Deathwishes
by regertz
Summary: AU S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  A Cicelyverse tale... Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1 of that.
1. Chapter 1

**Deathwishes...**

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Play main theme..."Hey There..."

Part I...

This makes six...Buffy thought...As she re-entered Spike's old graveyard...

Six times in one night...The record to date...

God...If the others found out...Hell to pay...

And I'm not a little...Pissed at myself...

Checking Spike's old place to see if he's come ho...Back...

A light shined in her eyes a second...Damn...

"Hold it!..." A guard called to her...Hurrying over...

Ever since Riley and I blasted the damned old crypt...Guards on every shift...

"This is private property, miss..."

Hmmn...she eyed the middle-aged guard in his uniform...

Wait a minute...

"You're a vampire..." she glared at him...

Slayer?...He blanched...

"Just earning a living, ma'am..." he pleaded...

No kills when I'm on the job...Hell, I probably protect more people driving them off from here than I  
ever kill...er killed...When I still killed...Before I got a responsible job and could buy blood...he  
hastily noted...

Please?...he gulped...

"I even have a human partner working with me...Still fine, still breathing...Come on over and you  
can see for yourself..."

"Lets see 'im..." she sighed...

I can tell him your car broke down...You just need to make a call or something...he noted helpfully...

"Actually I do..." she replied curtly...

Bout time I checked in with Dawny...she thought...

They passed a large monument...Both tensed...Sensing...

"Do you feel something too?..." the vamp guard eyed her...

I try to shoo em away...My job...he noted rather proudly...

Suddenly a harsh cry...And something...Someone came crashing down on the Slayer...

A blonde Someone...

"Spike!" Buffy screamed at the vampire as he held her down...

The other fellow vamoosing as fast as his little guard's legs could carry him...

Though to his credit...To fetch help in the form of his partner...

Not exactly the hunter type, this one...

Spike in work face was holding her down...But somehow she wasn't afraid or even overly  
concerned...

He somehow didn't seem ready to follow things through to the conclusion...

But seemed anxious to convince her he was...

"You're gonna die now Slayer!..." he repeated...Somehow without that ole Spikean menace...

And he seemed to be avoiding doing anything particularly lethal...Though...

Did he just try to cop a feel?...

Gee...Kinda missed that touch of his...

"Damnit, Spike!" she hollered at him, throwing him off...

What the hell do you think you're doing?...

"I'm going to kill you, Buffy!..." he cried...But somehow it lacked conviction...

Still...She couldn't let the ambush...Or the feel...Slide...

She kicked him back hard...

"Spike!...I've had enough of you!..."

This time...she began...It's really ov...

She saw the tears in his eyes...Streaming a bit...Now...

"William...?" she gasped...

What's wrong...?

"Kill me!..." he screamed at her...

Kill me or I'll kill you!...Buffy...he paused...

Couldn't call her...Buffy...And go on with it...he dropped to his knees, sobbing...

"William..." she stared at him...

"Kill me...Kill me, please...Buffy..."

If you ever gave a damn for me...Kill me now...he looked up at her...

He tried to rise up at her...But...

"Look at me..." he shook his head through the tears...

I can't even get the Slayer to kill me...

"Will...What's wrong?...What's happened...?" she looked at him...

My God...she gasped, seeing him clearly...

Where the hell did you get those scars?...

Africa...he sighed...

Fought a demon god and his minions...Won...

Or lost...Depends on your pov...he shook his head...

Hmmn...Beat a god?...Nice...she thought...

But why the...?

"Spike?...What the hell are you doing attacking me like that?...You know I could've killed you just  
now..."

He glared at her...What the hell do you think I did it for, moron?...His look clearly saying...

"Long way from killing me, I'd say..." he grumbled...

But...Since she clearly wasn't in a killer mood...And he'd exhausted the limits of his ability to  
menace...He got up, dusting himself off...

No Slayer coat, she noticed...And his hair looks...A little more natural...

As a fellow peroxider she had an instinct for these things...

"How's things been with you, Slayer?..." he asked politely...

Well...she began...Eager to tell all...Hell, why else had she been checking this place out every night  
for weeks but to tell her boyf...Tell her former nemesis...About things...

Whoops...Gotta maintain discipline...No one attacks the Slayer...Or cops a feel on Buffy Summers...

"I really should stake you right now, Spike..." she glared...

He put a hand to his face...Please do, he muttered...

"What?..." she stared at him...

"I want you to kill me...Is that clear and monosyllabic enough for you?..." he eyed her...

Kill...You?...she stared at him...

When you just came home...To me?...she thought...

Er...Just got back...To annoy us...she mentally corrected...

Kill...Me...Yes...he glared at her...

"You are still the Slayer, right?...It's what you do, right, love?..."

Ummn...Well...Right, my lo...er Love...she thought...

But...

"Spike, why do you want me to kill you?..."

"Because I want what's left of Spike...In me...Dead..."

So, if you wouldn't mind...  
"How's about doin' your duty, Ms. Summers...?"

Here...he picked the stake she'd dropped...

Ummn...she stared at him...

"If you don't...I might just pay a call on dear old Dawny...Or the others..." he glared...

"So...?" she eyed him...

The chip wouldn't let you hurt them...

"William...Why do you want to die?..." A thought suddenly sparking in her mind...He  
feels...Different...

Summers...he sighed...I just attacked you...I tried to assault you...Damnit girl, what does it take?...

Ok...he threw up his hands...

"I should've tried ole Harris first anyhow...I was just afraid he'd hurt himself trying to kill me..."

Xander?...

"No!..." she cried...

"You can't go there...He really might kill you..."

Hello...he eyed her...

"What have I just been asking you for...?...Do you think I'm lying?..."

"I don't understand Spike..." she looked at him...

"Why...?" Now when we're back together...she desperately brushed the thought away...

Oh, my God...she thought...

Nah...It couldn't be...I'm just upset and my senses are a little dull...

"Hey!" the vamp guard was returning...With his promised human buddy...

Great...Buffy looked back at him and his friend as they raced up...

I had to find the one with a sense of social responsibility...

A Slayer-saving vampire...

"It's o..." she began...Spike grabbing her from behind...

"This girl's dead if you two make a move!..." he cried...

God, not again...Spike!...What the hell's with you?...she thought, squirming...

But not enough to break loose...Eyeing the pistol in the human's hand...And the wooden stick, torn  
from something in her vamp guard's...

My vamp hero...she rolled her eyes...But stayed in Spike's grip...

"Let her go..." the human guard cried...

Or I shoot...

Spike tossed her at them...And moved back...A clear target...

"Got him, Slayer..." the vamp guard whispered to her as he passed her...

No!...she screamed, hopping up...Tearing the stake from the vamp's hand...

The other fired at William...No effect beyond his reeling back a bit...

Stings, those silly little things...

The human guard fell back and ran for his call box...His friend following...

Staring at the strange Slayer he'd tried to help...Geesh...

Well...They say the Slayers have a death wish...he noted, turning to run after his pal...

She ran up to Spike who stood against the large monument he'd jumped her from...

With the vamp guard's stake in his hand...Scooped up from where she'd tossed it...

"Spike is almost gone...Let me finish the job..." he pleaded...

"I know...I know...But...Please...No!...Will...Please don't!..." she cried...Grabbing for his hand...

"Don't leave me!...William...Please...No...God, don't leave me now..." she sobbed...Embracing him  
as she twisted the stick out of his hand...

Don't leave me again, Will...Please...Stay...

"I love you..." she whispered in his hair...

Not Spike...You...  
I never stopped loving you...William...Never...

"Cicely?.." he breathed...

She blinked at him...Every bit as confused as he...

***  
A young man entered a dive just outside the Sunnydale limits...

A young man of pudgy aspect...With a harassed, hunted look to him...A guiltily hunted look...

And a ridiculous looking phony beard and wig...

He nervously beckoned the barkeep over, demanding whiskey...

"Id?..." the barkeep eyed him...

"What...?" he stared at the man...Looking round the dive...A coupla elderly barflies hanging  
round...One clearly a demon at that...

Hey...Law's the law...the barkeep eyed him...

The young man fumblingly pulled out his wallet...Phony id...

"Juilo Hernandez?..." the barkeep regarded him, looking carefully at the id...

That's me...Warren nodded...

And you're 34...? the barkeep smiled...

"You gonna sell me the drink or no...?"

No...the man shook his head...

I look too young?...Warren stared at him...

"Nope...I just don't like smart-assed punks..."

Out...the barkeep pointed...

"Or what...?" Warren stood up...

Or I pull the trigger...the barkeep smiled...Pulling out a shotgun...

Ok..Warren put his hands up...

Ok...No problemo...  
"Too early in the day for me anyway..." he muttered, backing away...

A woman stood in the doorway, eyeing him...

With a wide smirk...

"Hey, Warren..." she grinned at him as he backed up towards the door...and her...

Jesus!...He jumped, whirling round...

Hi...she nodded...

Right on time, Mr. Mears...she smiled...Pointing to a dark booth...

He's ok, Henry...she called to the barkeep...Who frowned but put his gun away...

"Come and sit down...Before you fall down, Warren..." the woman patted him...

"Will you can it?..." he frowned at her...Taking a seat in the booth across from her...

"That anyway to talk to the girl who saved your miserable hide from the most powerful wiccan the  
world's seen...At least in quite a while..." she frowned back...

Hey...he glared...The idea was mine...

But the talent was mine...she eyed him...

Your robot and then your pitiful clone would never have fooled Willow for a second without my  
ability...

Not to mention my helping you grow clone boy in a few hours instead of 24 years...she noted...

And I expect you to keep your part of our bargain...Amy grinned at him...

***  
"Cicely...?" Dawn eyed Buffy...

He called you...Cicely?...

Yeah. Buffy nodded tersely...As they approached the grounds of the new Sunnydale High...

"The girl who dumped him in 1880?..." Dawn looked at her sis...

Yeah.

"Seems they had more of a history than he let on that night..." Buffy frowned...

Oh...? Dawn turned to her, holding up a moment...

Yeah.

"And...?" Dawn frowned, staring at her sis...Who had also refrained from mentioning her own little  
burst of bizarre emotion during the encounter...

Married...Buffy growled out, a bit reluctant...

What?...Dawn blinked at her...Halting in her tracks...

"Married?...Spike?..."

"Just a day or two..." Buffy looked away...

Then she chased him away...And he died...she looked back at Dawn...

Definitely something going on in there...Dawn thought, looking at Buffy's clouded face...

"And he thinks you're...?"

Seems to be his notion...As of last night, at least...Buffy paused...

Though he hinted he was beginning to think he'd sensed it all along...

"Ridiculous, of course..." Buffy noted...Looking up the road towards the waiting new high school  
building...And her new career...As well as Dawn's next step towards adulthood...

"I make a coupla silly coincidental remarks to him...That happen to be things this Cicely said to  
him...A century ago..."

And tell him I never betrayed him, never stopped loving him...she did not say...

As ridiculous as the soul thing...she looked at Dawn...

Something in her eyes saying something quite different, Dawn realized...

"But...I humored him...Said I'd look into it with Giles..." Buffy continued...

He seemed kinda...Depressed...Even a little...Crazy...

"Like Angel?..." Dawn asked, a bit anxious...

"It couldn't be true...Could it...?" Buffy looked at her sis...

A soul...?

"Sounds like he's feeling the remorse thing..." Dawn noted...

But Giles would be the one to ask...When he gets back...she hastily added...

"Anya might be able to tell..." Buffy eyed her...

One demon can sense another...Even if she is part human still...

"Maybe..." Dawn nodded...

But...Buffy...? If the soul thing is true...?

"I'll be careful with him, Dawn...I won't take any chances..." Buffy replied reassuringly...

Well...Good...Dawn nodded...But...

"What do we do...For him...If it is true?..."

I...Buffy paused...

I don't know...she looked on down the street where a mix of eager, phony jaded, and truly jaded  
students were converging on the school grounds...Groups beginning to cluster at various spots...

What if...? Dawn resumed...And stopped...

"We'll deal with Will's soul...If it is back...When the time comes..." Buffy shook her head...

We have enough to worry about right now...

"Anyway, I got him to go to a new crypt last night...Clem took what stuff he had of his to him...He'll  
be ok for now..."

He promised not to...Do anything...she looked at Dawn, hesitating...

To himself, I mean...she added...

For my sake...she did not say...

After I pleaded with him for the best part of an hour...And refused to leave without his solemn  
promise...On his new soul...If it exists...she likewise did not say...

Ok...Dawn nodded as they continued on...But...What I meant to ask was...

What if this Cicely stuff is true?...she eyed her sis...

Buffy halted...

"Are you saying it's my fault?..." she whirled on her sis...

That I condemned him?...Abandoned him...?...she glared at Dawn intently...

Ummn...No...Dawn stared at her sister...

"I just mean..."

"It has nothing to do with me!..." Buffy cried...

It was Fate!...The Powers That Be!...she insisted, her voice getting a mite shrill...

Was that a slight British accent creeping into her voice?...Dawn wondered, staring at her...

***

Deathwishes...Part II...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all  
other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part II...

Seven hours before a certain infamous house party in 1880, Cicely Addams Walthrop wrote to her  
husband in London, back at the flat he'd been lent by her cousin...

"Dearest William,

The indications are very strong that I shall shortly be fighting what may well be the greatest of my  
enemies and as I may either not be able to write you again or you may wish never to hear from me  
again, against my best judgement I am compelled to write these lines to you in the hope that they  
will fall under your eye one day when I am no more.

I have this past night sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive  
in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of Humanity  
and of the principles we have so often advocated and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear  
death" have called upon me, and I obey.

The battle I fight may be a success...And I may hope that once done, I may yet be able to explain my  
behavior of this coming evening...Acts yet to be committed which you will not understand...And  
perhaps never forgive...But not my will, but thine, O God, be done. If it be required that I fall in this  
fight for Mankind, I am ready. I have no misgivings or uncertainty in the justice of my cause...I  
know as no one else, the great debt all of us owe to my predecessor Slayers. And I am willing, truly  
willing to offer my life and soul as they have.

This day, this very morning, I informed my cousin Henry of my calling and my great sorrow and  
with difficulty convinced him of the truth of my seeming ravings...He has pledged to speak to you  
within a day of tonight's battle and will bring you proof that what he will tell you is true. I can only  
hope that hearing...And believing...You may, one day, come to understand why I choose now to send  
you away...So soon, so soon, my darling...

William, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing  
but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Mankind comes over me like a strong wind and  
bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to tonight's battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most  
gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them, however brief. And hard it is for me to give  
them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and  
loved together and seen our children grow up to honorable man? and womanhood around us. I have,  
I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me perhaps  
it is the wafted prayer of my dear departed little Edgar from Heaven that I shall return to my love  
unharmed. If I do not, my dear Will, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath  
escapes me, it will whisper your name...

Your loving  
Cicely..."

Mrs. Walthrop's cousin Henry nobly attempted to forestall her battle with the Angelus pride by  
finding and attacking them in their lair that afternoon...Left for dead by Darla, he was found and  
saved by local citizens...

Although the night's battle was prevented and the immediate menace felt to be reduced by the  
uproar in the city caused by the attack, the near death of her beloved cousin persuaded her to go  
through with her previous plan and use the demon Halfreck, summoned by her Council and her  
Watcher, Simon Farris, to impersonate her and convince her newly-wedded husband that she had  
decided their marriage had been a foolish mistake...

Attacked by Drusilla after fleeing the Foxcroft house party shattered by Cicely's icy rejection,  
William died late that night and turned shortly afterwards, Cicely prevented from reaching him in  
time to prevent his resurrection after collapsing on seeing his body in the morgue...A collapse in part  
brought on by her pregnant condition. Her letter was later found, unopened, in the flat's mailbox by  
her cousin...

She died six months later in premature childbirth, along with her stillborn daughter.

The tall, distinguished-looking, elderly man ended his reading, eyeing his two visitors...

"Is that the information you required?..." Rollins, chief archivist of the Council of Watchers eyed his  
old friend Rupert Giles who nodded and quietly thanked him for taking the risk of disbursing such  
highly guarded and sensitive information...A deeply shocked Willow beside him...

It's true...she thought as they slowly made their way out of the dim vaults of the archives...I couldn't  
believe it when Buffy called and asked us to check out Spike's crazy notion...

I mean...Sure, it was obvious somewhere in there she wanted to believe it...But...

Then Giles found out...There was a Cicely...And more, she was a Slayer...One of the greatest...But  
still...I couldn't believe the rest...God...

Deathwishes...Part III...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all  
other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part III...

Hmmn...Buffy thought, looking around the office...

Seems like old times...Back in the principal's office...

Funny how they all look the same...

From behind his wide desk, the principal eyed Buffy with a wide smile...And began the usual spiel...

"This work-study program is an excellent chance for you to see all aspects of the teaching  
experience, Ms. Summers..."

Buffy beamed her own smile in return...Nodding dutifully...

Carefully decked out in her most professional suit...The red "throughly responsible Buffy" one...

Well, at least this one seemed relatively ok...the principal thought...

In spite of what the staff from the old high school had said...

"And of course, it will be good for your sister to have you close at hand..." he continued...

Hmmn...Just like when my mom was a teacher at my junior high...he thought...And every kid in  
school tortured me over it...  
Still, poor kid, she must be having a hell of a time raising that sis of hers alone...And trying to get  
back with college...

***  
"Xander..." Anya sighed as they strode through the graveyard...

Rather pretty actually in the morning sun...

"We should think this over..."

Uh-huh...he nodded...

"I'll think it over...Spike's ashes..." he turned to look at her...

She rolled her eyes...

"You heard what Buffy said..." she began...

He stopped and looked at her again...

"After the words... "Spike's back"...I stopped listening..." he frowned...

Don't argue with me on this, An...he muttered, resuming his pace...

"Whatever he told her last night...It's all hooey...Spike trying to get back in her good graces..."

He wanted her to kill him...Anya eyed him...

Sure he did...Xander muttered...And halted...

"Look..." he stared at her...

"Buffy has a blind spot a mile wide where William the Bloody is concerned...Ever since she came  
back to us...Maybe even before..."

Why that is...I don't know...he looked down a row of tombstones to where the large monuments and  
crypts lay...

"But like hell am I gonna believe that Spike has a soul now...And that he knew Buffy in some past  
life..."

They were married...Anya noted...If it's true...

He put up his hands, waving them as if to ward off the notion...

"Messing with minds is Spike's favorite sport...He left just long enough for her to miss him...Now  
he's back with some crazy stories...And she's buying..."  
I'm not letting her make this mistake again...

"He could've killed her last year...In his crypt...She told us that..." Anya shook her head...

I believe he's not planning to kill her...Yet...Xander glared...

He wants more than that...He's gonna have her begging for it if he can...That's what he wants...

"Buffy...?...Begging...?" Anya stared at him...

"He wants to humiliate her, An..."

Hell, Angelus could've killed her that night back when Angel lost his soul...he noted...But it was too  
much fun to let her live...And go after her friends and family, one by one...

"And that's what our dear Will is planning...Maybe foregoing the killing family and friends, thanks  
to the chip...But only thanks to that..."

He tried to protect Dawn...When Buffy was gone...Anya tried again, as they began walking down  
the row of tombstones...

"Fine...He loves Buffy...In his own bizarre, twisted way..." Xander eyed her as they walked...

Is that supposed to convince me to stand by and let her get involved with him again...?

"You're involved...Or you were...With a demon..." Anya noted quietly...

***

"I still don't see why you need me..." Warren noted to Amy as they sat in their booth...

If I didn't...she smiled...You'd've been roast flambee...And long-cold ashes right now...

"You're just lucky poor Rack thought of me when you went to him..."

And I'd say the need on your side was far greater...At least as far as survival goes...she noted...

"Am I saying I'm not grateful...?" Warren eyed her...

But going after the Slayer...Now...After my little disaster back in May?...

Can't we just leave well enough alone?...Slip off somewhere...

Together, maybe...he looked at her...

His hard past months curbing his instinctive addition of... "Babe..."...Hey, he needed this one...

She sniffed at him, coldly grinning...You and me?...Please...

Though somewhere, deep within her...Despite her full evaluation of Mears' worthless character or  
lack thereof...

Somebody wants me...A voice cried...Somebody needs me...

And hey, he's not that bad-looking...And a genius, whatever else he is...

She pushed the voice down and frowned at him...

"I'm willing to admit that I need your help, Warren...I haven't a fraction of Willow's power when  
she's juiced up..."

And you have the scientific background as well as some magics knowledge I haven't...Plus you've  
studied the Slayer and co for months...

"If I'm going to break Willow...By destroying her friends...I'll need to do it in a way she'll never  
trace back to me..."

If you're good at anything, it's covering your ass...Little man...she smiled...

"But..." Warren sighed... "What's the point?...Break Willow?...So what...?...So she becomes a mad  
superwitch again?...And destroys the world for real next time...?"

My...And you were the guy who was gonna do in the Slayer and rule the world from Sunnydale with  
the Hellmouth backing you up?...Amy eyed him coolly...

Well...That was only the long term goal...Warren noted...I woulda been happy ruling Sunnydale and  
having Buffy kneeling at my feet actually...

"Willow won't be superwitch when we've finished with her...She'll be..." Amy paused...Looking  
away..."Like me..."

Alone...

***

Deathwishes...Part IV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...  
Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part IV...

As they methodically searched the crypts of the third cemetery they'd tried  
since early morning, Anya continued to try to persuade her ex-fiancee to hold  
his stake...At least until they'd met with Buffy and seen if she'd heard back  
from Giles and Willow in England...Currently engaged in checking out William's  
story to Buffy of the previous evening...

"Why don't you let me talk to him?..." Anya desperately suggested...

Buffy was right last night...I could sense it if he's changed...If a soul is  
present...

"And you'd tell me if it wasn't...?" Xander eyed her...

If you don't believe I would, may I should just go right now...she angrily  
frowned back at him...

"I imagine D'Hoffryn has plenty for me to do..."

An...he paused, sighing...

"I didn't mean it that way..." he looked down the row of crypts...All silent in  
the midmorning sun...

Not a sign of habitation...Although Spike would've just settled in...And he was  
pretty experienced at covering his tracks...

"I wouldn't have let you come unless I trusted you...And I do..." he pleaded...

But all we have is his say-so...And some vague feeling on Buffy's part that  
he's not lying...

He resumed his pace down the row, peering into the first crypt on his left...

"It was more than a vague feeling, Xander...You saw her at the house last  
night...No matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise...She believes  
him..."

And she's had a connection to him since he came to this town...Especially after  
last year...

"And he's taken every advantage of it he could...An, he tried to rape her..."

"She said he stopped...And left...When he realized she meant no...And  
"tried"?...What pure monster would "try" to rape an injured Slayer?..." she  
noted...

Wrong...Sure...But a wrong any human might commit...Xander, this is a vampire  
who passed up a chance to kill his worst enemy when she was at his mercy...

And it was only after she pushed him away after being his lover for most of a  
year...

A year he spent time and time again trying to help her...She admitted that...In  
fact, it was more like she was pleading his case to us...

"Xander...Can you see Angelus doing something like that?...Or any vamp you've  
ever run into...?"

Answer me this...she paused...

"Why did you and Giles let him stay around Dawn after Buffy died...?"

"That was different...I told Buffy...We never forgot who or what he was..."

But you trusted him enough to take a risk, right?...You left Dawn with him,  
alone...Time after time...

All because you knew he loved Buffy...And wouldn't risk losing the chance of  
seeing her soul again...Someday, somehow...

He stopped...

"Giles..." he paused...

"Giles felt sorry for him after...Glory and all...When he cried for her..."

He told me...It was impossible...It couldn't be that a vampire demon could cry  
for a human...

Even the chip couldn't explain it...

There had to be...Something different at work here...

"Maybe...Even..."

Anya eyed him...

Sometimes...Giles told me...Sometimes the soul can fight its way back...For a  
moment...Say a mother killing herself just after transformation to save the  
kids...Or a lover just as they transform...

It's rare but...

But it's never happened to a century-plus old vamp...Not without magical  
aid...Like Angel's curse...Or an extra soul, like with Darla...

"Maybe...The chip gave William a window back into Spike..." Anya noted...

Just enough to let him love Buffy...Sense Cicely in her...And now, if this  
African story is true...

Xander shook his head...But...

"Xander, let me speak to him...If I sense only Spike in there...I'll gladly  
help you stake him...But, if there's any chance this story's true..."

He looked down, nodding...But...

"An...? If it is true...The whole deal...Why?..."

Why would Buffy...er this...Cicely?...Have driven him to Drusilla...?

"I can't...I won't believe the Buffy I know could be that cruel...Even in  
another life..."

Maybe there was a reason...she noted...

But first things first...Xander...she took his hand...

"Let me try...Please..."

He closed his eyes, leaning against a stone...And opened them...

"When Buffy was invisible..." he began...

I went to Spike's old place...Trying to find her...

She was there...I knew it, but I wouldn't let myself believe it...

She was all over him...Invisibly...

Happy to be with him...Hiding there from the rest of us...

And he covered for her...Never said a word...Not one gloat...

I blocked it out for weeks afterward...And since...  
Especially since...You know...We found out...

"I've told myself...It was the dying thing..."

Spike was dead...She'd been dead...She needed to find her way back...

And if she had to use him to come back to us at last...Well, ok...I could  
accept it...

Temporarily...

"But the thought...That she might...That this connection...Might last..."

I'd have rather seen her dead in the ground again...he nodded...

"He was there for her, you're right...We weren't...All this year...We dragged  
her back to save us...And couldn't help her...Couldn't even reach her...And the  
only one who could...Was a monster..."

And the worst of it is...he looked down...

I knew what was happening...And I went along with it...Hell, it was so much  
easier to sit back and let her slide downhill...She was here, after  
all...That's all we needed...The Slayer to save us...If she got involved with  
Spike, well...Heck, her problem...I had my own troubles, right?...

"Until I saw you with him...And it became my problem..."

Could it be true?...he stared at her...

Could Buffy be this Cicely?...Could Will have been...Be...Hers...?

"Slayers do reincarnate more than most folks..." Anya sighed...

Short lifespans, lots of unfinished business...

"Wish me to find him..." she stared at him...

But leave him to me...For now...

He paused...And nodded...

I wish...You'd find him...he told her...

And see if this damned story is true or no...

"Back soon..." she kissed him...  
And vanished...As he sighed and continued his walk...

Hell, a pretty place for a daytime walk...He never got to see these places by  
day...

Besides...If he caught one vamp in its crypt by day...It was worth losing a  
vacation day...

***

"So..." the principal beamed...Waving Buffy into the small room...

This will be your office...

Along with the other three work-study councilors, of course...he noted...

Right...she smiled...Four of us...In this room...

She looked around...Two desks, stuffed into the two ends of the room, barely  
leaving room for three chairs...

"Guess we gotta come up with one more chair for you guys..." the principal  
smiled...

But hey, you'll all be much too busy to hang around here anyway...

"Well...Have a seat...And let me get you the counselor's manual..." the  
principal beamed again...

Hmmn...Right, Buffy nodded brightly...Eyeing the peeling paint on one wall as  
she took a seat...

Geesh...Isn't this a brand new school building...? Built by our Xander no  
less?...

Still...Hellmouth...And school building...Peeling paint just kinda goes hand in  
hand...

Well, Xander did warn me never to buy more real estate in Sunnydale...

God...Why did Mom and Dad hafta buy in Sunnydale proper?...Why not good ole  
Crestwood...It's just five miles away...With normal Californian property  
values...And no Hellmouth...

I coulda commuted...Patrolled, saved the world, died and resurrected...And  
retained equity in my house...

"Here you go..." the principal smiled...Hefting a huge loose-leaf book to the  
desk in front of her...

Volume one...he noted...

I'll have Ms. Finders bring you the other five...

Great...Buffy nodded...

And...He pulled up a large box of files...

Here's your first case...

"This is...One case?..." she stared at the box...

He's had a few difficulties in junior high...the principal noted...

Read it through carefully...You see Jorge at nine-thirty...

"But...It's nine now..." she eyed the huge file...

Well...Just skim over the important papers for the first appointment...he  
smiled...

"After all...You'll be seeing a lot of Jorge..."

Right...Buffy smiled frozenly...Blinking a bit...

***

Deathwishes...Part V...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part V...

Nice plaques...Anya noted...Eyeing the various tributes in bronze to fallen family members...

She stood facing a sitting William...Who on her appearance had come out of the strange depression  
that seemed to grip him long enough to offer her a cushion for slab sitting and a glass of slightly  
warm...New fridge not yet acquired, he'd noted apologetically...Soda...Then resumed his seat and  
stare...

"Spike...?" she asked hesitantly...

Please...Do not call me that...he eyed her...

"Sorry...Will?..." she paused... "You do remember me, right?..." He'd clearly been startled when  
she'd materialized but he'd seemed to recognize her...

Anya...Vengeance demon of late...Harris' little...

Love Bunny...he grinned at her for the first time...

A boy's sweet grin...One she'd seen on his face only a few times...Including the time...

"Will...I realize this has been hard for you...But..." she couldn't help tapping her hands together in  
excitement...This was just too great...

"You've got your soul back...This is wonderful..."

Yeah?...he sighed at her...

I see Humanity didn't work out too well for you, dear heart...he noted, eyeing her...

"That was different..." she paused...

And well...Things aren't settled yet...

Not for me either...he noted quietly, looking away...

***

So...Buffy eyed Jorge, now sitting cramped in one of the three room chairs against the opposite  
desk...Her nine-thirty...

A large, somewhat hulking young sophomore of sullen aspect...

"You're Jorge?..."

"Brilliant..." he sneered at her...

You get all that by reading my file?...he eyed the huge, half-exploded file on her desk...Well,  
partially her desk...

"I'm Ms. Summers..." she smiled at him...Looking him over...

Unpressed clothes, obviously much washed...Unkempt hair...Bad skin...

He slouched as best he could in the tight chair, crushed against the desk...And gave her a similar  
once-over...

"I see from your file you had some trouble last year..." she noted...

Really?...he looked at the ceiling...

"Quite a lot of trouble..."

My, my...he sighed...

"But what surprised me is..." she paused...

"You made it to sophomore..."

How'd you manage that...? she eyed him...

With this record?...she glanced at the file...

He leaned forward, grinned, and motioned her over for a whisper...

"Screwed my guidance counselor..."

He sat back and started a laugh...As she caught him with a glare...That somehow made him pull up  
short on the hee-haw...

"It says you're good with computers and math...That you got by in part thanks to your "outstanding  
ability" in both..." she noted...

Are you any good?...she looked at him...

"Lady...I'm so good...In ten years you'll be begging for a crack at me..." he grinned...

You still gotta have that ole college diploma, Jorge...she smiled...

Microsoft and Sun don't take dropouts...

He gave another sullen glance...Still, not bad he had to admit...A definite improvement over last  
year's...

"Wanta prove to me you're as good as you think you are...?" she eyed him...

There's a computer free down the hall in the library...And I have something special I wanted to  
check on the Net...

"You get it for me...And today's session continues with you using the computer on your own for the  
rest of the hour..." she smiled at him...

***  
Will?...Anya stared at him...

"You must realize...This changes everything...You have your life back..."

He glared up at her from his seat...

"I'm living in a crypt...I can't even go out that door...!" he cried, pointing to the entrance...

I'm dead, you silly fool...!

Dead...And a mass murderer...he put his head in his hands...

"But then..." he raised his head and eyed her...

Maybe you could give me some pointers on dealing with that...

***  
Deathwishes...Part VI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part VI...

Willow sat across from Giles at the table where they sat at the restaurant of the inn they'd  
chosen...In a town as to near the Council's...The Royal Council of Librarians and Library Scientists,  
known as the Council of Watchers to those in the know...archives building as they dared...

He was intently pouring over additional notes and records...Mostly lent to him at great personal...Or  
at least professional...risk by several old friends...All with long-standing favors called in...

He paused to look over at her...Her own pile of documents in front of her...On which, until a  
moment ago, she'd likewise been working steadily...

"Anything wrong, my dear?..." he looked at her...  
No...she shook her head...

Well...she immediately and sheepishly reversed herself...As he eyed her kindly...

"It's just...Giles...? All this time...?...We've been helping the Council do its dirty work?..."

At least the 1880 Council...she hastily noted...

"Keeping Buffy and Will apart...Maybe permanently if we'd destroyed him...And all the time...?"

We didn't know Willow...And William was in no condition to be reunited with Cicely...or Buffy...he  
sighed...

"But all these years..." Willow was near tears as she rescanned the batch of old letters...From  
William Soames Walthrop to his Cicely...Fragments of Cicely's personal journal...And notes taken  
on her by her own Watcher...Who had betrayed her in the end...

"Will's soul has been fighting to reach her...Hanging on, somehow...And none of us ever tried..."

There was no way to know that Willow...Giles patted her hand...

Giles...Willow shook her head...

"I knew he was different...Almost from the start...And after the chip..."

It was Amy all over again...I never made any real effort to help her until Tara left me and I was  
bored...

"I could have...I should have tried to save him...At least last summer...After all he did for Buffy and  
Dawn..."

But I was too busy...Trying to pull off my little resurrection stunt...she looked away, sadly...

"Willow...None of us tried to help William...Even after he tried to save Buffy...It never even  
occurred to us...So long as he wasn't a threat, we were all content to leave him as he was..."

But then...he went on...None of us ever tried to go beyond the curse for Angel...

"It has been a busy past couple of years, my dear..." he smiled, shaking his head...

And, honestly...How could we have guessed at this?...he indicated the two piles of notes and  
documents...

The Council could've...Willow noted bitterly...Some of them, I mean...she corrected hastily...

But the ones who knew must've been terrified of her finding out...Especially after she got so far  
beyond them...Even beat a God...  
Well...god...she grinned wanly at Giles...

Joke's on them...Unlike her insane little best friend, Buffy would've...Will...Probably thank them for  
any info they gave her...

Poor Buffy...Poor Cicely...she rubbed her face...Poor, poor Will...

God I thought Tara and I had it rough...she grinned though her tears...

"She didn't come back just because I called her...Or for us...Did she, Giles...?" Willow looked at  
him...

"When I came...Home..." Giles paused...

To save me...Willow added, gently taking his hand in hers...

"Buffy asked me...Why had she come back?...She felt there had to be a reason...Beyond just being  
there to protect Humanity...And Dawn...And all of us..." he put his chin on his folded hands...

She'd left someone behind...Willow noted...

The someone she'd reincarnated after a century to find...

"No wonder she was attracted to Angel..."

Cicely within was expecting to find a soul in or hovering around her vampire...she shook her head...

"Poor Angel...Just a case of mistaken identity..."

"On his part as well, my dear..." Giles noted...

Yeah...Willow nodded...Well...Buffy had blonde hair...And a noble soul...

Like his Darla...The human Darla the poor guy's searched for...At least subconsciously...All his  
existence...

Sure explains the brood...she grinned...

And why he never pushed to stay with Buffy...I never could quite buy all those different  
excuses...she eyed Giles...

"I think Will would have chosen to stay with her...Even without sex..." she grinned... "And even if it  
meant the Apocalypse began tomorrow..." she sighed...

Hell, he did choose to stay around...And has paid for it, watching Spike kill for a century...

"The demon god must have sensed William's presence...Influencing...Hovering...When he restored  
him..." Giles nodded...

"But...Why, Giles?..." Willow looked at Cicely's few surviving papers...

We saw her last letter to him...She loved him...Hell, if all's true, she's moved Heaven and Earth to  
find him...Almost literally...

Why did she agree to send him away?...

"Her Watcher...Farris...Was a clever and diabolical man..." Giles noted...

Bent on gaining power...World power...

And patient enough to lurk in the shadows...Quietly preparing his way to the Chairmanship...For  
years...

"And Cicely Addams was his prime tool..."

Somehow...Someway...Giles pondered...He tricked her into believing Will would be safer away  
from her...

Oh...God...Willow stared at him...As he blinked back...Both realizing...

Drusilla...

"That bastard had Drusilla waiting for him..." Willow shook her head...

***

"This is what you wanted?..." Jorge eyed the screen of the library computer, having called Buffy  
over...

This creep's picture...? he sneered at the image of a young, rather nervously solemn-looking  
William Soames Walthrop staring out at them...

Old class photographs from Cambridge University...Circa 1880...

Will...she touched the screen gently...

So...she smiled to herself...It's true...

He really was a Cambridge man...

"What...? He your great-great something or other...?" the boy eyed her...

Staring a bit at the tear running down her face...

"You...Ok?..." he hesitated...

Yeah...she grinned...

Oh, yeah...she wiped the tears...

Ummn...How's about one more search?...she eyed him...

A girl this time...

A Ms. Cicely Addams...Same year...Also English...

"You could try Cicely Addams Walthrop as well..." she looked at the screen...

***

Deathwishes...Part VII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Unless of course Uncle Joss...er, Mr. Whedon...Does use my Cicely-Buffy story line...

(Guess that makes 5 stories I'd have to change Cicely to Cecily in...Or is it 6, now?)

Part VII...

"So here I am..." William eyed Anya as they sat in his new crypt...

Soul boy...

40,000 plus murders to my credit...

"And...Best of all...It was the woman I loved who put me here..." he smiled at her...

Who came back...To play with me some more...  
Will...Anya looked at him...

"I don't know Cicely...I don't why she did what she did..."

But I know Buffy Summers...

"She loves you, Will..."

Ah...he grinned coldly at her...

"She tell you that, eh?..."

"She didn't have to...Will...If you had seen her last night...Talking about you and what happened  
for hours, calling Giles frantically at one am...Well, our time..."

"Well..." he eyed her...

"She told me she loved me in 1880 too..."

"You were...Married...?"

That's the usual reason a woman takes a man's name, dear heart...he nodded...

"An unfortunate mistake on her part, I guess...Which she rectified almost immediately...With a little  
help from poor ole Dru..."

He eyed her...Grinning coldly again...

She always did seem to go easy with my poor lamb...Gratitude, you think?...

Anya shook her head...Will...

"I loved her again as soon as the chip let me..." he paused...

I tried to save her...To be a man for her...

And did she see me?...Try to help me?...

"Will...She didn't know...She couldn't know..."

He looked at the plaques on the crypt wall...Beloved husband, beloved wife...

"In 1880 she used me...And when she was bored with me, sent me off..."

2002...Repeat process...

"Of course..." he smiled bitterly...  
Barely restrained demonic killer is a better excuse than bad poet/poor man...

"We don't know why she sent you away Will..." Anya hesitated...

What to say...Hell, from his pov he has excellent reasons to call on my services...

"Giles has been checking out your Cicely story... He called with some information this morning...He  
and Willow are...Or were...headed out to the Watchers' archives to get more..."

He looked at her carefully...Nodding...

The bloody Watchers' Council...? He thought...

And...? he asked, as casually as a human William-souled William the Bloody could...

"She was a Slayer, Will...A great one..."

He blinked at her...A Slayer?...

Well, it did make sense at that...

"Right..." he agreed coolly...

No wonder she wanted me out of her way...A bloody awful poet with no money is sure to put a  
crimp in a wealthy Slayer's style...

***

The tall, brown-haired...And quite elegantly dressed young man led William...Wearing his one  
barely passable grey suit...Over to the young woman waiting by the stairs...Smiling warmly at  
them...

Well, at good ole Henry, William thought...

As he gazed upon the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his largely miserable 21-odd years...

"And this..." Henry Foxcroft beamed at his young friend...

"Is my cousin...Miss Cicely Addams..."

He stared at her a moment, blinking, almost forgetting to take her outstretched hand...Offered  
somewhat less daintily than most of old Henry's female friends, he noted...

"Mr. William Soames Walthrop..." Henry smiled...

She stared at him...

"Mr. Walthrop?...Is something wrong?..."

Henry had warned her of his friend's slight discomfort in the social arena...Still...She hadn't  
expected...

Was he crying?...

But...Yes, the poor boy had lost someone...His mother, yes...Recently...she remembered...

Ummn...he wiped back the tear that had spilled out of one eye...

"Some smoke or something in my eye..." he explained...

Sorry...

"Not at all..." she shook her head...

Anya looked at William...As a tear ran down his face...

"I cried..." he paused, staring at the wall...

She was so beautiful...And I was just poor Caliban...Crying to dream again...

***

"Well, ok..." Buffy smiled at Jorge, as they sat, back in her office...

"You are pretty good...So what the hell are you wasting your chances for...?"

You anxious to wind up at Doublemeat Palace for the balance of your working life?...she frowned...

I can tell you, kid...That glamourous life you see going on behind the counter is just a facade...

He looked away...Rolling his eyes...

Then back...Unable to resist...

"How come you wanted all that stuff?..."

"Come back on time next week and I might tell you..." she grinned...

***

Dawn eyed her sis...Off in another world...

Geesh...she stared at her tray...

On the first day of high school...I put any potential social life in the toilet by eating lunch with her in  
this locker of an office...And this is the thanks I get...

"Hear anything from Giles yet?..." she tried, brightly...

Unt-uh...Buffy shook her head...

Not since this morning...

Hmmn...

"How's about Anya...?"

Not at the shop...Buffy replied briefly...Her mind elsewhere...

She stared at a couple of papers...Printouts from Jorge's searches...

"Records of our most wanted...?" Dawn grinned, trying to look from where she sat...

Unt-uh...

"Well..." she paused...

"I'm off to a good start...Homeroom teacher stripped naked and danced to "If You Want My  
Body..." first period..."

Uh-huh...

"Then I got killed by a vamp who must've slipped into the building last night...I just transformed by  
the way..."

"I thought you looked pale..." Buffy grinned at her a moment...

Sorry...she shook her head...And eyed her carefully...

"Dawn...I did some checking..."

There was a Cicely Addams...

She died as Cicely Addams Walthrop...In London...In 1880...

"And..." she pushed the printout of Will's class picture over...

There was a William Soames Walthrop...Cambridge University student...

Dawn blinked, staring at the printout...The solemn, nervous, but somehow even in that sea of  
confident, arrogant young British overlords of the Earth, outstanding...face of Will looking back in  
his best suit...

It's the kindness...In the eyes...she thought...And suddenly realized Buffy had just spoken the same  
thought aloud...

'Course he also looked preety ridiculous in that crowd...With that suit and hair...she noted, smiling...

"He was very poor, Dawn..." Buffy said quietly...

It was a terrible struggle for him to get so far...You can't imagine what poverty was like back then...

Dawn stared...

Buffy nodded...Yeah...

"I'm beginning to remember..."

***  
"Miss Addams..." the slender young man nodded at her...An annoyed look on his face...

William...? Yes, that was it...William...

She frowned a bit...The household footmen Smike and Squears who had been lounging out on the  
back portico with Henry's "friend" eyed her...She repeated a thinly veiled "suggestion" that they  
resume their duties...

The two got up...Smike in an especially impudent mood...

"Well...Be seeing you, mate...Maybe we'll stop by at that..." Smike cast a brief leer at Miss  
Addams...

"480 Merriweather St...Thursday night at eight..." Walthrop replied...

See you there mates...

The two sauntered back inside...Cicely glared at them...

She'd also caught the tail end of Mr. Walthrop's little performance...As she had come in to see about  
Henry's little guest...And where those two lazy oafs had gotten off to...

As the strutting Miss Addams...

Regally bowing to all and sundry as she made her little procession...Accepting the natural adoration  
of her male peers...Awaiting the doffing of caps and the bowing and scraping of her inferiors...

"Ah...Mr...er...Pardonnez-moi while my maid fetches my opera glasses so I might have a look at  
you...Ah...yes..." In high falsetto voice Walthrop had thrown his head back and looked down his  
nose...A rather good imitation at that... "Mr...Wal...trop?..."

Much to Smike and Squears' amusement, obviously...

She turned back to little Walthrop...Barely taller than she, she amusedly noted...

If rather beautiful eyes...Staring deep into one...

The people cousin Henry takes under his wing...Still...dear Henry did admire the little...

A bit of a rough diamond he'd called him...But...A true and worthy friend...With a bright future...

And anyone admired by Henry Alexander Foxcroft was usually worthy...she had to admit...

"Fomenting revolution in our household, Mr...Walthrop?..." she unconsciously had thrown her  
head back and looked down her nose at him...

"We were just talking, Miss Addams...I wanted to hear about their lives..."

"And encourage them to attend some meeting of radicals?..."

He eyed her...Truculent but a bit off balance...Had she heard his little performance?...

Hardly radicals, Miss Addams...Just a meeting of students, thinkers, and workingmen and -women...

"Socialists?...Communists?...Or just Anarchists?..." she smiled at him...

Amazed she knew there was a difference he thought, looking at her sourly...

"Even the dogs in the street have a right to meet occasionally Miss Addams...And try to better their  
lives a little..." he replied coldly...

"I see...And is making fun of us...My cousin who's been so kind to you...And me...In front of our  
staff...Another right of the "dogs in the street"...?" she asked...Sweetly...Turning to glaring stone at  
the end...

Self-righteous little...If I could have him on the receiving end of my stake one night for thirty  
seconds...she thought...I'd teach him a lesson or two about making snap judgments of people...

Quite a glare there...Walthrop noted to himself...

But was angry in a moment...Thankfully angry...Considering how she'd thrown him off balance,  
putting him in the wrong...

Not to mention...Well...He still wasn't used to dealing with women like this...

Especially wondrously beautiful women like this...  
"I wasn't making fun of...Your cousin..." Walthrop paused...Eyeing her...

Henry is my friend...I don't make fun of my friends...Even if they are rather of the "toff"  
persuasion...

He's a good sort...And can't help the inbred toff in his bones...

"I see..." she eyed him coldly...So...

"Miss Summers...?"

And Miss Summers...? the principal smiled at them...Leaning into the office...

"Miss Summers...Your 12:15 is waiting for you in classroom 113...I understand she breaks things  
when people let her down..."

"Dawn...Aren't you due back in homeroom now?..." he eyed her...

That was just about all I remembered of it for now anyway...I'll tell you more later...Buffy hissed as  
they hurried out...

"Do so, Miss Addams..." Dawn hissed back, in a rather good high-pitched British accent...

***

Deathwishes...Part VIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Unless of course Uncle Joss...er, Mr. Whedon...Does use my Cicely-Buffy story line...

(Guess that makes 5 stories I'd have to change Cicely to Cecily in...Or is it 6, now?)

Part VIII...

"So...?" Warren eyed Amy...  
Sitting in the living room of her new apartment, rented after she'd recovered what little she could  
from what her mother had left her, following three years of her few remaining family members'  
grabbing what they could...

All of whom had made themselves unavailable...Distant and forgotten aunts, uncles, and cousins for  
the most part anyway...With the exception of her father who'd likewise preferred to remain  
incommunicado...After securing his share, of course...

She stood, regarding him...He'd lost weight in the past months on the lam...Not surprising...

Hard to stop and sit down to a meal with the thought of avenging super-Willow on your tail...

"Want something to eat?..." she asked...Coolly but just the faintest hint...Of eagerness...

First date in three years, four months...First person over since she got the place...

"Yeah...Sure...But, can we dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business?..." he frowned...

I still think this was a crazy idea...Bringing me back to Sunnydale...

"Willow's friends are here...The Hellmouth is here..." Amy noted...

Your "nemesis" Buffy is here...she grinned...

"I've moved on, lady..." Warren sighed...

I got more important matters on my mind these days...

Namely...Not meeting my "nemesis" or her insane friend ever again...

"Willow will find out you're alive one of these days..." Amy pointed out...

She'll feel it...And even though she's gotten herself back under control...She and the others won't  
stop until you're in prison, at the very least...

"The only way for you to be safe...Is to help me destroy them all..."

So...? he glared at her...

"Destroy them...All...Already..."

Cast a spell and put 'em six feet under...End of story...

"I'm not quite that good...And they've got some protections...Besides Willow would sense an attack  
like that...She'd target in on us in a moment..."

No...Amy shook her head...We've gotta do this the non-magics way...At least non-direct magics  
way...And use others who can't be traced to us...

"Oh...And after six years of trying to kill the Slayer and her little friends in every possible  
way...Someone is just gonna accept our offer and take them out...Without implicating us..."

Not any someone...Amy smiled...Coldly...

Buffy is going to do it...

Warren blinked at her...Buffy?...

A buzzer went off...

"My chicken...Grab a chair and I'll bring the things over..."

Warren...she smiled...

A leetle nervously now...First date in so long, after all...

"Look...er Will..." Xander paused, eyeing the vampire as he paced the ground level of his new  
crypt...

Anya off to the Magic Box to collect what she could to help make the place somewhat livable...

"I realize you've had some tough breaks...But...You've gotta try and deal..."

Will stopped and stared at him...

"Didn't you come out here to kill me, Harris?..."

Spike...Xander replied...

I came looking for Spike...

Probably to try and kill him...he agreed...Definitely to drive him away...

"And on dear Anya's say-so...You're ready to chance that I'm telling the truth?..."

I did...I would...Xander nodded...

"But I also have confirmation from Giles and Willow in England thanks to An's call from the  
shop..."

And I'm not in the habit of killing the human-souled...Even vamps...

"At least not when I've given my promise not to...To the vengeance demon I love..."  
"Jesus...?...How did I manage to fail against you idiots all these years?..." Will angrily shook his  
head...

I'd guess...Xander sighed a moment, then smiled...You didn't fail, William...

"Probably you're the reason Buffy didn't die last year when Spike could've taken her...And why  
Spike never took Dawny...Or Joyce..."

Will glared at him...And continued his pace for a moment...Then halted by a plaque dedicated to  
someone's century dead infant son...

"Don't sentimentalize me, Harris...I did nothing...I never stopped Spike from killing...Not once..."  
he stared at a grim and blank crypt wall...

Not one bloody f-ing time...he sighed...Putting his head against the wall...

No...Xander agreed...

You couldn't ...Will...No one could stop their demon...

I couldn't even slow my jackal spirit down...

"But somehow you gave Spike a human edge...Made him care about the world...About Joyce and  
Dawn...And when the chip appeared..."

Well...he grinned...

Lets just say...I never saw Angelus ever care about any human...Outside of wondering how they'd  
hold up under his torments...

"Believe me, Will..." Xander eyed him...

I am not crazy about this changed situation...

It was a hell of a lot easier this morning when all I had on my plate was to get rid of you...One way  
or another...

And all this...Cicely business...Does not help...

"But we're stuck...And a lot of moaning isn't gonna change things..."

"Spike isn't dead, Xander..." Will noted...

He's right here...Waiting in me...Hoping for his chance...

"Really?..." Xander grinned...

"Well, then...Welcome to Humanity, Will Walthrop..."

Will...he gestured with his hands in front of him...If all this is true...You fought Spike for a  
century...Without help, alone...

I'm no expert...But I know...This does not happen often...If ever...Unless a gypsy curse or a fiendish  
LA law firm or maybe a power-crazed Wiccan is involved...

"You forgot a power-crazed division of the US government..." Will grinned wanly a mo...

Nah...You had their help...Xander grinned back...

But...

"Are you gonna give up now?...When you've won?...Beaten him back?...Maybe for good if you can  
hold out..."

When you have us...And...

Cicely, maybe...To help you...?

"Jesus, Harris...Is this how you stopped Red?...A football pep talk?..."

"Well...Like hell am I gonna tell you I'll still love you no matter what you did..." Xander smiled...

I'll leave that for (Well, first goddamned time for everything, he thought, sighing...)...

Your wife...

William stared at him...

And Will...?

"I still will kill you if you hurt her..."

Anya materialized...Bearing a box...

She looked at the two...Will looking at Xander oddly...

"Is everything...Ok?..." she asked anxiously...

Yeah...Xander nodded...

"I've just been spelling out the ground rules for him..." he noted...

Xander...Anya looked at him...

No, no...Will patted her shoulder...

"It's what a good brother-in-law does, dear heart..." he grinned over at a suddenly blinking Xander...

***

"Of course...You shouldn't get any ideas from this..." Amy eyed Warren...

Right...he nodded...

I'm lonely...Not crazy...she noted...

Rolling over to eye him carefully as they lay in bed...

Absolutely...he agreed...

"And I've protected myself...In case you get any ideas about playing with my mind...No love  
spell...Or "cerebral depressor" is gonna work on me, Mears..."

Hey...If you weren't any good at magics...I'd be fried muscle boy right now...he grinned at her...

Daddy has still got it...He thought...

Nothing I like better than a really needy type...A beautiful needy type...

A powerful, beautiful needy type...

Still...It was...Nice...

Like when things with Kat started out...

Before Buffy ruined everything, butting in...

Hmmn...Buffy...?

"Before...Things moved along...?" he eyed Amy...

You said...Buffy would take care of her friends for us...

"Yeah..." Amy nodded...

"Well...?" he looked at her...

Warren...she sighed...

Buffy Summers is a Vampire Slayer...A great one...

But even the greatest Slayer is bound to have one bad day...

"And all we gotta do...Is ensure that she has a very bad day..."

And never knows we were the cause...

***

Deathwishes...Part IX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Part IX...

Cicely frowned and looked at the little Mr. Walthrop...Back again for another round...

Under his usual guise of an engagement with dear Henry...

But who had now decided to terminate today's increasingly angry discussion...

She having accused him of being a rather classic example of a self-righteous, self-proclaimed  
working class hero...

An intellectual snot...Who'd probably never seen the inside of a factory...Walthrop choking,  
remembering his years slaving in the Brusset bottle works...

While he had noted her unfortunate "priggish" tendencies...Questioning as to whether she had ever  
known anyone or thing outside her little circle of fellow prigs...

A conversation she was as always...Rather enjoying...

"My cousin will be expecting to find you here, Mr. Walthrop..." she glared at him...

Oh...Don't go...she thought...

You ungrateful little...

"Please tell Henry I'll be back later..." he stubbornly replied...Turning away from her...And moving  
rather swiftly to the door of the back garden...

"Where are you going?...Henry will be coming in a few moments..." she called...

Uhhh...He mumbled, fumbling with t

e door...

"Mr. Walthrop!...Stop!..." Cicely cried to him in a startlingly loud voice...

He halted, staring back at her...

"I am talking to you!...Where...Are...You...Going?..."

In five words or less...Sir...she frowned...

Five words, eh...? Walthrop glared back...

"Out...For...A ..." he began...

Dawn blinked at her sis...As they walked toward the Magic Box...Where, hopefully, new info from  
England awaited them...

"What did you...er Cicely...Do?..."

I think I leapt across the garden and hit him so hard he nearly flew out of his shoes...Buffy  
pondered...

"It's still all a little hazy..."

Guess it's no wonder now why my little debates with Spike always seemed so familiar...she  
sheepishly noted...

***  
"I can't say I think much of this idea, Warren..." Amy sighed at her partner as they stood outside  
one of Sunnydale's most notorious demon-frequented bars...Fortunately, far from the areas the  
Slayer and co normally ventured in daytime...

We need back-up, right?...he eyed her...

Demons hate the Slayer, right?...

Logic therefore dictates...

"I may not be able to protect us..." she noted...

If "logic" fails to work with them...  
"Trust me, bab...er Amy..." he corrected hastily...

I've dealt with these types many a time...

Right...Amy rolled her eyes...

But followed him in...

It was a little brave of him she couldn't help noting to herself...

All she had now, after all...

***

"Can't we just send this stuff to Buffy...?" Willow eyed Giles...As they sat in at the Heathrow  
airport terminal...Her carefully packed box of Cicely letters and journals beside her...

I'm not sure if I'm ready to face the guys...she noted sadly...

Or leave you...she did not say, staring at him...

"Willow, wherever the information here is to lead Buffy...Whether to her past, to her William. or  
wherever it takes...Eventually she is going to need her best friend to help her deal with the  
consequences of facing Cicely..."

She'll need her Watcher more than her...Former...Best friend...Willow sighed...

"If Buffy needs my help, I'm always here for her..."

And for you, my girl...he patted her...

"But this is something you must face on your own...Just as she essentially must face Cicely,  
William, and the past on her own..."

All we can do is be ready to help...And you are the one who lives in Sunnydale...Who has a life there  
to return to...

"Even if Buffy and the others can't accept you back in the old way, Willow...Your life is there...And  
you have a family waiting for you...Though you may have nearly forgotten them in the last couple  
of years..." he smiled...

"I do miss my parents...I haven't been much of a daughter these past few..." she noted, nodding...

Guess I got a lot of fence mending to do all around...she sighed...

Well...You know what they say, Willow...Giles smiled gently...

"Home is the place where when you come...They have to take you in..."

"I love you, Rupert..." she hugged him...

And pulled back to eye him firmly...

I don't mean...Little Willow loves her teacher...

"I know that..." Giles nodded...

And all the better reason for you to go home...And work things out...

"But...Will you think of me?..." she pleaded...Taking his hands...

Not as another daughter...Like Buf...

"I will think of you...Every day, my Willow..." he kissed her gently...

But this is something for us to discuss later...Much later, when you have your life put to rights...

Yeah...she sighed, nodding...And grinned an old Willowian grin...

"Buffy and Will...Married...I still can't believe it Giles..."

Well...Cicely may have been a very different person than our Buffy, my dear...

"Best to bear that in mind...Especially as Cicely surfaces in her..."

"I will...Goodbye...Rupert..." she kissed him and headed off to her gate...

"Not that much later...!..." she called, halting just before the security barrier...

He stared carefully back, waving...

"So fellas...That's the deal...We...My Wiccan friend and I...Are taking on the Slayer..." Warren  
announced...

And we're here to offer you the chance for a crack at revenge...

The chance to make her...One of your own...

"So..." he eyed the group...A motley crew of the dregs of demonkind at the best of times...And these  
were not the best of times...

Who's with us...

"F-you, human..." one hog-faced demon called...

"Take the witch, eat the little bastard..." another called...

Ummn...Warren nervously grinned at the demons...

One...Now two...Rising ominously...

Amy moved into a protective position...Desperately running through every defense spell she could  
think of...

But then...

Suddenly, bizarrely, Warren burst into song...Some kind of march, a startled Amy realized...

In German...Of a kind...With the words hideously mangled...But a few barely intelligible...

"Panzer...something, something...Panzer troops cutting through...Something, something..." he  
banged his heels down hard on the floor as he sang, eyeing the group...

The demons stared for a moment at him and each other...Then, one fellow, far in the rear of the bar,  
stood and joined in, filling in the German Warren was murdering...  
**Play**

("Panzerlied..." translation, of course)...

"In blizzard or storm,  
Or in sun warm and bright,  
The day hot as hell  
Or bone-chilling be the night,  
Our faces may with dust be laid,  
But spirits never fade,  
No, never fade;  
Relentless, our tank  
Thunders out on a raid."

Others began rising, joining in...Banging horned heels on the floor...

"With engines a-howling,  
Fast as is the wind,  
We head for the foe,  
Safe, as we're in armor skinned."  
  
Soon the whole bar was on its feet...Including the few drunken humans...All singing and banging  
heels in rhythm...More or less...

**"Our comrades still behind us roam;  
We fight the foe alone,  
Yes, fight alone.  
We stab through the line  
To break the foes backbone.**(Oh, Ja!)**  
Whenever the foe  
May appear in our sight,  
We'll ram throttle full,**(several demons getting weepy)  
Then we'll humble all his might!  
Of what use is our life if we  
Our country serve freely?  
Yes, serve freely!  
To die for our country,  
Our honour shall be."

Yeah!...Warren raised a fist...We're gonna take the bitch at last!...he called...And resumed his  
song...Mostly mumbling now as the Germanic demon roared the lyrics...And the others joined in the  
chorus...Shaking the whole building...

Amy stared...Holy...

"Warren?..." she hissed...

What the hell are you singing?...

God knows...he hissed back as he continued...Saw a Nazi colonel singing it when he wanted to rally  
his troops in "Battle of the Bulge" last night on TV...

I figured...Couldn't hurt...Some of these guys must've been Nazis in their human lives...

"With tank traps and mines,  
Our foe tries to impede.  
We laugh at his ruses;  
We know he'll not suceed.(She'll not!...Warren tries, catching a bit of the German...)  
And when, in threat, his cannons stand,  
Half hidden in the sand,  
Yes, in the sand,  
We can find our way  
Over much safer land.

And should at long last,  
Fickle Lady Luck leave,  
And we remain here,  
Leaving family to grieve,  
A bullet with our name on it,(I still have mine...One fellow noted contentedly)  
Find us and seal our fate,  
Yes, seal our fate,  
Our tank will our grave be  
On that final date."

"Well, young man..." the older demon who'd been the first to join in his battle song came up...

That was very inspiring...Reminded me of the old days back with the 6th SSDeath's Head Brigade...

"But you're not gonna join up either...?" Warren sighed...

All the others having politely refused to sign on to the latest crazy "we're gonna get the Slayer"  
scheme...Especially under human leadership...

Though they appreciated the little human fool's can-do attitude...And were behind him and his  
magical friend 100%...In spirit...

Experience (especially the past six years) having provided them with a realistic pov when it came to  
down to action...

"Well..." the tall and gnarled figure paused...Large scales on his cheeks moving to reveal oozing  
glands with each breath...

Your idea has merit...To make the Slayer one of our own...

"But many have tried..."

Besides...he noted...Even if you succeed, a former Slayer is likely to be a very ambitious  
vampire...With a will to rule over all of us...

"Can't say as that would necessarily be a major improvement in my existence..." he smiled...

She won't be hunting you anymore...Less you piss her off...Warren replied...

That's one hell of a big improvement...

"And my friend here..." he indicated Amy... "Will be able to keep her in line..."

Warren...? Amy stared...

All I said was...I think I can keep her from killing us...At least tone down our appeal as dinner  
items...she thought...

The risks...For all of us...Will be minimal...Warren insisted...

"And with Buffy the Vampire on our side, Sunnydale will be at the mercy of anyone with the guts to  
take it..."

Namely...Us...he waved to include Amy and their companion...

With plenty of rewards and goodies to distribute to all...

Gotta admit...He has ambition...Amy noted to herself, eyeing her partner...

The old demon eyed them...Well, hell...A boring existence these days anyway...And it was nice to  
find someone with a little of that ole determined-to-get-the-Slayer spirit...

So many simply accepted the status quo these days...

And he could always eat them later if things went wrong...Maybe even if things went well...

"What would you need from me...And any friends I might persuade to join in one last campaign...?"

***

Deathwishes...Part X...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part X...

Thank God for teleportation...Anya noted as she returned once again to the shop...Just in time to  
catch a couple of teenaged girls...Comez demons in disguise...Attempting to walk off with several  
reasonably valuable items...

Not that I wouldn't trade it gladly she noted to herself...For good ole footpower...If Xander and I  
ever straighten things out...

"Guys..." she assumed working face...

"Put 'em back..." she coldly ordered in a booming voice...

The demons eyed each other...And grumbling, returned the stolen bits...

Out...she pointed, again with booming voice...

Wow...A human customer, browsing, stared at her...

Neat...Can I get one of those morphing masks...?

"Sorry..." Anya, back to human face, sighed, reluctantly...

Specialized make-up technique...Not for sale...

She looked over at the chiming door...Buffy, with Dawn...

"Anya!..." Buffy called, waving...

She rushed over...At Slayer speed...Dawn staring...

Ummn...Buffy paused...Trying to recover a little poise...

"Any more news?...From England...?...Or..." she looked around the shop...Several humans...

"Anywhere?..."

Just a sec...Anya raised a hand, turning to answer a customer's question...

Not that she didn't still set a high priority on love of the true persuasion...But hey...Working here...

Buffy fidgeting...

Wait a minute...she looked round again...As Dawn came up...

"Where's Xander?..." she asked nervously...

Oh my God...Dawn thought...Looking for him as well...

Much as I don't want sis hurt again...

If by the slightest chance all of this crazy Cicely stuff is true...

And Will is my...(Gulp)...Can't say it, won't say it...Yet...

"Anya?..." Buffy pleaded...

"So...You stupid sot..." William eyed Xander as they stood, now on the lower level of the  
crypt...Xander engaged in doing a little electrical work...

May as well try to do it according to code standards this time...Spike's old place had been an  
electrical disaster waiting to happen...

"You still haven't patched up things with that poor kid yet?..."

"I'm working on it..." Xander replied...

Hell...Harris...

Xander glared at him...

"I don't need love advice from William the Bloody, even in human-souled form...thanks..."

Xander...A girl like Anya comes around once...Will grinned...

In a millennium...

"We're working on it...I'll deal with it..."

She...Will paused...Staring at him...

She's not evil, Harris...In fact, I've never seen a demon so unevil...

"I never said she was..." Xander focused on the wiring in front of him...

Let me work, Will...One thing An doesn't need is me...fried...

Much as she may have wished it the first coupla days...

Will frowned at him but held off pursuing the matter...

"Hand me that pair of pliers...The insulated one...Right..." Xander took the pliers and continued his  
work...

"What happened, Will?" he asked...

William looked round...

"Not a thing so far...Should the telly be on?..."

I mean...Xander twisted a pair of wires together, straining a mo...

"Between you and Cicely..."

Ah...

"I met her...We fell in love, or so I thought...She asked me to marry her...She decided that was a  
rippin' mistake...She chased me off..."

Why...? Xander looked at him...Pulling on several other wires...The tape there, please...

"God knows..." he passed the electrical tape over... "My looks...The bad poetry...My lack of the  
social graces...The dire poverty..."

Maybe it was that time of the month...

Guess the real question was...Why did she marry me in the first place?...Will noted...

"She married you..." Xander eyed him thoughtfully...

Yeah...Happened a lot, actually...Even in my day...Just didn't get mentioned that often in the social  
history books...

"She was a Slayer...Don't you think, well...She might have had a good reason?..."

As in...? She didn't want little Walthrop in her way?...Once she'd had a chance to think things  
over...Will frowned...

"Walthrop?...That's your name?..."

William Soames Walthrop...Most pleased to meet you, sir...he nodded formally, grinning...

"I'm sorry..." Xander paused...

I should've asked before...

"I wasn't William Soames Walthrop before..." Will noted...

***

"You're sure...?" Buffy eyed Anya...Asking for the fourth time...

Dawn nervously in support...

He isn't going to hurt him, Buffy...He promised me...Anya replied...Looking reassuringly at both  
sisters...

"And Alexander L. Harris is a man of his word..."

Outside lifelong commitments...she sadly noted...

"Well..." Buffy pondered...

"I should get over there in any case..."

Just to see if he needs anything...she hastily added...Noting Anya's slight glare at the potential  
casting of aspersion on the value her ex?'s pledge...

"Buffy..." Dawn groaned...

You can't just go running over there...We can't be sure of him yet...  
"Oh sure you can..." Anya shook her head...

I saw his soul just fine...And Giles confirmed that his African demon god was powerful enough to do  
it...

"Plus he and Willow say the Cicely story is true...She definitely knew him as Walthrop, married  
him...And was a Slayer..."

"We know..." Buffy nodded...As several new customers entered...Two demons among them, Anya  
noted to herself...

We did some checking on the high school library computer...

Great...Anya smiled and turned to deal with her customers...

Demons...No doubt without cash she sighed inwardly...And with sticky fingers...

Especially this species...

"Anya...?" Buffy halted her...Grabbing at her right arm...

"You saw it?...His soul...?"

"Yeah..." she looked at Buffy's face...So many emotions flickering across...

It's a beautiful soul, Buffy...she smiled kindly...

"Yeah..." Buffy nodded... Glancing at Dawn...

It always was...

***

Amelia and Philip...William sighed...

"My brother and sister..." he shook his head, looking at Xander as they sat in the lower level of the  
new crypt...

God...Xander, what happened to them after I died...? They had no one...he put his hands to his  
forehead rubbing...Trying to hold back all the thoughts tearing at him...

"Thank God Mum died the year before...Thank God...If she had lived...And learned what had  
happened..."

Xander stared at him...Is this the "thing" I've hated all these years...?

The monster I could see digging his claws into my Buffy's soul...My "sister" Buffy...  
But even I had moments...When something he did...Something he said...Made him too human to  
kill...

Almost a friend...Almost...

A brother-in-law?...

And all of it...Just the fragments of Will that got through...

But then...My "sis" would only have married someone special...

"I'm sorry Will...I wish I could say the right thing..."

He thought a moment...

"Maybe...Somehow we could check records from back then...See what happened..."

Willow could do it...When she gets home...

If she comes home...he thought...

Though...Sometimes...he paused...

"Sometimes it's best not to know..."

Will nodded...But...

"I have to know...What I left behind..."

***  
Willow watched the clouds floating by as her plane cruised over the Atlantic...

All life...Giles had told her...On that day...That special day...When he'd told her the truth about what  
had happened to Glory's human counterpart, Ben...And in showing her the darkness within him, had  
showed her that the darkness could co-exist with the light...Even be controlled by the light and  
enlisted for brief periods in its service...

All life has a deathwish wrapped inside...

It's inevitable after all...he'd told her...

All living things die...In time...

Even most Undead things cease to be...

And so...For all living things, all life...Especially intelligent, rational life...There is the temptation to  
get it all...Over with...  
To end the tedium...Or the torture...Or the sorrow and loneliness...And move on...To the Eternal,  
hopefully...

And the harder the living...The stronger the wish...Or at least, the more the wish comes to the  
surface...

Making it no wonder a demon run largely by instinct, like many vamps...Would generally be  
inclined to accept and fight for its long existence...No or little ability to control its actions, no  
responsibility...Easier existence...Weaker deathwish...

Whereas humans...Or human-souled creatures...Had the burden of responsibility for their  
actions...And a stronger deathwish hidden within by consequence...

And the greater the scope for action...The greater the responsibility...The greater deathwish...

Angelus being the best example of all...Terrified by his years as Angel...The hideous burdens and  
responsibility...He'd preferred to try and destroy the world rather than risk the chance of having to  
one day resume those burdens...

The trick...Is to remember that death is...Usually, he'd smiled at her...

A one way ticket...With no travel reporting, no guidebook, no previews...And no known way to  
change course once underway...

While life, however, hopeless it may seem...Offers an infinite diversity of possible options and  
rewards...If one has the courage to take new paths...Or re-explore old ones...

And just as Buffy had slowly, painfully overcome her deathwish of the past year...Perhaps triggered  
not so much by her own death and resurrection as by her despair and fear after her mother's death  
and with the feeling of hardness she'd sensed overwhelming her before the Glory battle...So she,  
Willow...And now newly souled William...Must overcome their natural deathwishes...And seek for  
paths old and new that would keep the knowledge that life is a precious, transient wonder worth  
experiencing before them...

We're so lucky...William and I...Willow thought...Each with a second chance at life...If we can bear  
the burdens...

Are you there, my Tara?...she eyed the clouds...

Rest now...And I will see you again...I have that chance again as well, which I nearly threw  
away...Thanks to Xander and Giles and Buffy...

But I will try life for now...And see what paths open for me...

After all, William endured a century of horror to begin finding his way home...The least I can do is  
try...

***

Deathwishes...Part XI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XI...

Things are humming along...Warren noted happily to his Wiccan partner as they finalized their  
plans for the coming rematch with his "nemesis" at Amy's apartment...

Or rather, as she did her research and he wandered about, trying to get his two cents' worth  
in...Generally just getting in her way...

Something of a comedown for the former Fearless Leader of the Trio...

She regarded him dryly...Humming along?...

"Warren, sit down...I gotta concentrate on these protective spells...Unless you want Sunnydale's new  
vamp queen to eat you first...?"

He frowned...Once I gave the orders, girly...he thought...

And one day...After we deal with the Slayer...

"You not happy with the current situation, Mearsy...?" she asked him quietly...

He stared at her...She eyed him coolly, clearly reading every thought...

Quite a girl, he found himself thinking...In spite of himself...

"Hey...I'm just trying to show a little enthusiasm for the operation, lady...That I'm with your  
program...Whatever the hell it is, exactly..."

Lets not forget I was the one with doubts at first...he noted...Taking a seat...

And that I've gone along blind on most of this...

"In exchange for my saving your miserable life...And giving you some damned good sex..." she  
replied...

And a preety nice chicken dinner...he grinned at her, catching her by surprise now...

She couldn't keep a smile off her face...For just a mo...Then wiped it...

"As for not letting you in on the details...You already know the basic plan...It's simple..."

We use your knowledge of Buffy and her habits on Patrol to give our friends a decent crack at her...

When the time is right...We intervene, staying hidden...To provide that bit of extra brain power the  
vamps and demons here always seem to lack...

And Buffy finally has a very bad day...

Then, at the scene...While we wait for the new Buffy to wake up...We use my spells to protect  
ourselves against her...

She does the rest...

"And later...When she's "done the rest"...Taken the others out...We step forward...And when she  
realizes she can't harm us...New vamp Buffy will have to deal..." Warren nodded...

A whole new Trio...Definitely superior to the old from his pov...

Maybe she'll deal...Amy looked at him...

Maybe not...she looked away...

He blinked...

Maybe...Not?...

"Can't you make sure she's in a receptive frame of mind?...Hell, if I had my cerebral depressor  
handy..."

This will be her demon, Warren...That toy won't work on her...At least not for long...

She'd just be that much more anxious to kill us...Even if she couldn't do it her own way...

"Kill us?...But you said..."

If my spells work...She won't be able to kill us the "normal" vamp way...Amy explained...

That doesn't mean she couldn't find a way...If she doesn't decide we're more useful to her alive...

He stared at her...What the hell are you getting me into?...his look clearly saying...

"Then...What's the point?...If we can't be sure she'll be on our side..."

The point...Amy patiently noted...Is that she'll take the others out...Without any track leading to us...

She'll kill her friends...Her little family...Maybe turn them as well...

And when Willow comes home...She will feel...What I felt...

Not just losing her honey this time...

Losing everyone she cares about...Losing all the things that made her Willow...Cause even if vamp  
Buffy doesn't go after all of them herself, the survivors will all try to stop or save her...

Especially when we see that they learn what's happened to her...

"And she'll take Willow for us too, right?..." Warren asked nervously...

I don't know...Depends on how much Willow wants to die, really...Amy smiled at him...

Though you better pray she doesn't get turned and retains her magics ability...she noted...

"But...If Willow is so powerful...Won't she stop our little Queen of the Damned...? Before she starts  
her killing spree...?"

"She might...If she were here...But she has to get here to be able to do that..."

And how do you know she isn't on her way right now?...Warren looked at her...

"She is on her way...Right now..." Amy grinned...

Jesus...he blinked at her...

"And you were gonna tell me...When?..." he glared at her...Rising angrily...

Damn it!...he hollered...

"Do you know what she'll do to me if she catches me now?...And if she finds out what we're up  
to...?"

She gave him a grim little smile...He clenched his fists...

"And if you think I'm gonna let her take me!...And not you too!..." he paused...

I know you'd turn me over to her in a second...Amy nodded...Still smiling...

He calmed down...Ok...Obviously she either had something else up her sleeve...

Or she was one crazy witch-bitch...

Probably both...he realized...

"So..." he sat down again...

"Are we just gonna go ahead...With super-witch on her way...?"

We're gonna go ahead...Amy nodded...But Willow is gonna be delayed...

"Oh..." he smiled a little, looking at her...

"So you have got something...?"

What did you do?...he grinned...

"Not a thing..." Amy beamed... "Outside keeping a listen on her phone calls and emails home to  
friends and family..."

What...? the red started to color up his face again...

"Willow's mom...And Buffy's old Watcher did it for me...For us..."

He called her...Amy explained...And suggested she meet Willow in NYC...To give Mom and her  
little girl a chance to catch up before her poor, troubled kid got back to the old college whirl and  
all...

"Willow's such a fool to have thrown her mother away like she has, you know Warren...?" Amy  
sighed...

I mean...A mom who loved her...And she's just ignored her...

It's a terrible thing to do...If you're lucky enough to have parents and family who love you...

I sure oughta know about that...she smiled wanly...

"But maybe they'll patch things up a bit while they're together in New York for a few days..."

Giving us our chance...If our new friends come through and we move quick...

He nodded...But...

"Lemme ask you something, Amy?..."  
You don't expect to win this one, do you?...he eyed her...

I mean...Willow will come home with dear Mommie after her week in New York and find Buffy's  
killed everyone she could get her little fangs into...

And Willow will stop her...And sooner or later, find us...

Amy smiled at him...Rising and moving over to a desk against the far wall...

"Well...Warren, with your skills, including that diplomatic nature of yours...I'm sure we'll form a  
working unholy alliance with demon Buffy...And sweep all before us...Including Willow..."

But...If we don't...

I'll settle for making Willow suffer...Even if she does get to keep Mommie and Daddie...

He rolled his eyes...Yep, crazy as a wiccan loon...

Why do I always get these types latching on to me...?

"See this Warren...?" she pulled out a document from the desk ...

"My dad had me declared legally dead...So he could take the house..."

I'm dead...she grinned coldly...My own father said so...

Of course...He didn't know I was a rat...

But he didn't even look for me...Nobody did...

Nobody gave a damn...

Heck, Mom only left me the house because she was gonna take my body...And then stage my...er her  
suicide...

I'm dead...I just haven't stopped moving yet...

And I wish...I'd never been born...Not into this Hell...

"You're dead too, Mears...You just won't accept it yet..."

Pardon me?...Warren looked at her...

"So really..." Amy smiled... "If vamp Buffy or raging Willow catches us in the end...What does it  
matter?...We're dead..."

Her face hardened a bit...  
But before I let them bury me...I want that bitch to suffer too...That "sweet little Willow"...Who  
thought it was a big joke to play with me in that hell cage...Spent a total of 45 minutes in three years  
trying to help me...And I counted those minutes, Warren...And, when she was too bored to think of  
anything else to do...Changed me immediately back, no effort at all...

All of them...Let me suffer for three years...Until there wasn't an Amy to come back to anymore...

Until I was dead...

He frowned at her...

"Well, girly...You can be as dead as you like but Warren Mears is not dead...And I don't intend to  
die..."

She chuckled at him...He turned beet red...She waved an apologetic hand at him...

"Don't get mad, Warren...It's just...Hilarious to hear you of all people talking about not intending to  
die..."

"I am not dead!..."

He hesitated...

"Am I?..." he felt himself...Nah...

You're worse than physically dead, Mearsy...Amy grinned...

Your soul is on a one way trip to Hell...Forever...

"Maybe your little dreams will come true...Maybe you'll win...And for one year, ten years,  
twenty...Hell, maybe you'll find a way to live a couple of centuries...You'll rule Sunnydale, even the  
world..."

But after that...The bill comes due...

Unless...she paused...

"I like you Warren...I know I'm crazy to...I know you'd sell me out in a minute...But...I guess  
everyone needs somebody..."

You could still change the outcome...For Eternity...

Yeah?...he regarded her...

Yeah...she nodded...

"And pray tell...?" he sneered at her...  
"Repent...And sin no more..." she grinned...

They say it works...

Repent...? he stared at her...

"Turn yourself in for both murders and Buffy's shooting...Beg Willow's and Buffy's  
forgiveness...Try to do some good with whatever bit of your life you get back in and after prison..."  
she smiled at him...

Course you gotta be sincere...The Powers That Be can read phony, so they say...

He smirked...Repent...

Sure...If I believed in that crap...

"Hey...I tried, right?..." she eyed him..."Last kind act of the ghost of dead Amy...A nice girl, in her  
day..."

A little sadly, he saw...

God...she really meant it...he realized...

She really...Cared...

"Well..." she sighed...

Guess we're both headed for the same place...she smiled...So we'll each have company...

And who knows...Maybe we'll pull it off...Rule Sunnydale and the world...Together...

For a little while...

"Your confidence in our little scheme is really underwhelming..." Warren frowned...

Sorry...she patted his arm...

Just being realistic...

He looked at her a long moment...

"Amy?...If you really believe in all that crap...?"

Why don't you...You know...Give it up yourself...?

Repent...

"Who'd care...?" she smiled at him...

***

Deathwishes...Part XII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XII...

"A week...?" Buffy spoke into the phone...

Willow won't be home for another week?...she sighed...

And I won't get to see my...er Cicely's...letters and journal until then...she did not say...

Giles was apologetic...But, still...Sending the things with Willow had been the fastest and probably  
safest route...

Within his somewhat strained means...He kindly did not say...Not wishing to remind Buffy that his  
gift to her and his neglect of his own concerns had been the cause of the means straining...

She caught herself however, realizing she was running a tad low on the gratitude scale...

"Thanks for all the archive searching, Giles..." she hastily told him...

And...For taking care of Willow...

"She's ok?...Right...?" Xander called anxiously, having come over...

Buffy put up a hand...A mo, please...

Sorry...he backed off and sat by Dawn...

Who had questions of her own...For him...

Though the central question he'd been forced to answer already...Immediately on appearing at the  
door of the Box after finishing his little impromptu electrical installation job...

"William...?" Dawn, Buffy, Anya...Had all asked...

Anya ready to teleport...Not that she lacked faith in her Xander's solemn promise...

Just...If some accident had occurred to Will...Say Xander's fist had accidently smashed his face  
open...She was ready to provide immediate medical assistance...

After all, that wouldn't have violated his promise not to destroy William...

Buffy ready to leap out the door...Tense as a coiled spring...

All three sighing audibly in response to Xander's innocent... "I think I got his power all set..."

Good ole Xander...Buffy had hugged him, near tears...Joined quickly by Anya and finally  
Dawn...As he stared at them...

"It was just a few wires..."

Great...Buffy had nodded, beaming at her "big brother"...

Just as the phone...Giles...Had rung...

But Dawn still had many questions...

How'd he seem...? Was he showing more of the brooding remorse thing?...Had he told him  
anything about Cicely they hadn't heard yet?...Did he want to see them?...

Was his hair really as natural looking now as Buffy and An had said?...

Ok...Buffy eyed the others, having put the phone down...With the exception of Anya, who'd  
resumed her duty post at the cash register...

Love and redemption is all very well...And the gang was always more than welcome to use the  
Box...Especially with Giles still a partner...But, business to run...

Unless, of course Mr. Harris wanted to talk in private...she'd noted to herself...

Which apparently...He did not, just yet...

Rats...

Not wishing him to be one...she hastily added to her thought...In case certain somebodys might be  
thought-reading...  
Just...Things had been going so well between them this morning...He could at least have told her  
what happened with William in private...Like he would've in the old days...When she'd drag him off  
to make him tell her things in private...

"Ok..." Buffy continued...

Willow will be in New York for a week or so...Her mom is joining her there...Giles wanted her to  
have a little less pressure in the first reunion...Which is great...And what Wil needs...

Phew...Dawn thought...

She'll be coming home with her mom...Mucho less likely she'd kill us all with Mommie by her  
side...

"Giles gave her everything he could get his hands on about Cicely at the archives...He's sending a  
few digitalized documents by email..." Buffy noted...

So...We'll see all the Cicely stuff in a week...

Just a week...she corrected...

Ummn...For now...He thinks we should give William some down time...Not overdue the visits...

Not leave him alone of course...she hastily added...

Just not overdue it...While he gets a handle on the soul thing...

"So we can't go see him?..." Dawn looked at her...

Ummn...Not that I wanna rush another meeting with my sis' near rapist...she thought...

On the other hand...Soul thing cancels, right...Absolves?...

And he is my...(Gulp)...No, not yet...Hold on that one, Miss Summers...

Does a century-old marriage between two more or less dead (at times) people count?...

Ummn...Buffy replied...

"I'll check on him in a little while...But I think I should go alone..."

They looked at her...Dawn, Xander, Anya even, from her post...

"Just to check on him, guys..."

I'm going too...Dawn insisted...

Alone, Dawn...Buffy glared at her...

Buffy...Xander frowned...

"I was willing to give William a chance today...But I'm not willing to take a chance with you...We  
don't know how this thing will play out..."

He has a soul now, Xander...Buffy stared at him...

And he's my husband...Maybe...she did not say...Tried desperately not to think...

"Buffy..." Xander sighed...

"I gotta tell ya...He's not in great "romantic reunion" mode right now..."

And having a soul does not make him incapable of violence or anger...Or evil...

Violence...? Dawn jerked her head up...Looking nervously at Buffy...

"William is not evil!..." Buffy shouted in a sudden rage...Trembling...

How dare you talk about him that way!...she shook...

And burst into tears...

Xander stared at her...Was that a British accent?...he hissed to Dawn...

It's been creeping in on her all day long...Dawn whispered back...

He sighed, patting Buffy's shoulder and then hugged her...

"I want to see him..." Buffy sobbed...

Please...

"Buf..." Xander lifted her chin...

Ya know I couldn't stop you if you went...

But...I...

She looked at him...

"Does he hate me?..." she asked...

Does he hate you?...You?...Dawn thought, grumbling within...

Ok, right...Soul thing, rejection, driven off to a century of hideous torment...

Guess I can see where human Will might harbor a grudge...A misplaced grudge, of course...

I hope...she thought...

"He doesn't hate you...But..." Xander eyed Buffy, the tears tracking down her face...

Buf...He's had a terrible time...And...

"And I'm to blame..." Buffy sighed...

"Drusilla...Or better yet...(Least for me, he thought) Angelus...Is to blame, Buffy..."

Whatever Cicely did that night...

"I hafta see him Xander...I don't wanta go against you...I know you're just looking out for me..."

Will you take me...? she pleaded...

Just for a few...

"Isn't Will going to go on Patrol with her tonight...?" Dawn hissed to Anya, having gone over to  
her...

I mean...she explained as Anya stared at her...He always showed up on her Patrols...

And he's her...Ummn...

He always went on Patrol with her...she finished lamely...

"I think Will needs to take it slow with her for now, Dawn..." Anya noted...

Xander sighed at Buffy's tear-streaked face...

"An...Dawn...Buf and I..."

Will be back in a little while...

"Thank you..." Buffy kissed him...

He stared...That Brit accent again...And that wasn't quite the way Buf had ever kissed him  
before...From his limited, I-luv-ya-big-bro, Buffy kiss experience...

So...That's...he thought...

"You're welcome...Cicely..." he told her quietly...

Poor ole New York...Willow sighed, looking from her window as her plane continued its descent  
towards LaGuardia Airport...

One big open wound...The pain and sorrow like a shroud drawn over...

And yet...Hey, lady, she waved at the Statue of Liberty as she caught a quick glimpse through a  
cloud...

So much love...So much concern...

As she left the plane and reached the gate area, she began looking around...A little frantically...

Well, right, new security...Mom's probably...

She reached the security gate...Armed men in uniforms patrolling...

"Willow!..." her mother called, waving from just past the no admittance area...

God...She looks so worn...When did she get so worn...?

When did I stop seeing her...

Mom!...she waved, running...

Oh...Ma...she sobbed, dropping her bags and hurling herself into Mrs. Rosenberg's arms...

"Baby...Baby..." Mrs. R pulled back...

I'm so sorry, baby...

"I'm the one who's sorry, Ma..." Willow shook her head...

"Have you been eating?..."

All English stuff, Ma...I'm starved...You gotta a place in mind?...she grabbed her bags...

"What am I sayin'...You got four places lined up, right?..." she grinned...

"I know a good spot in Greenwich Village from my college days..." Mrs. R noted...Pausing by the  
transport desk to request a cab...

How's that nice Mr. Giles?...I gotta send him something nice for keeping us informed about you...

"Rupert's fine..."

Whoops...

"Rupert, eh?..." Mrs. R eyed her daughter...

Ma...

***

Deathwishes...Part XIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XIII...

"Haven't you ever been in a boat, Mr. Walthrop?..." Cicely asked...Smiling at the little man...As he  
struggled with the oars...

A day out in the Lake District, courtesy dear cousin Henry and his generous offer of his cottage...

Ummn...Walthrop shrugged...Trying to seem casual about it...Casual as one could with one oar  
floating off into the center of the lake while the other seemed likely to pull him in...

Why the hell she'd asked him to come out here...He'd never know...She must enjoy the spectacle of  
him constantly being humiliated, trying to cope with a world he'd never experienced outside of his  
beloved books...

Well, there goes the other oar...

And he'd given up critical exams time for this...Not to mention precious dabs of his funds in  
traveling here...Money much better spent on his books or better still sent to his sister and brother,  
Amelia and Philip...

Still, she'd promised to "fire his poetical imagination" with new sights...Actually she'd teased that  
she would do what she could to fire anything that might possibly be there...

Dim coals, judging by what she'd read of his work...  
Well, to be fair, a remark she instantly withdrawn and profusely apologized for after seeing his  
crestfallen face...

Rather remarkable, her consideration for his feelings just then...Considering her usual haughty prig  
manner...

She'd almost seemed...To care...

But then, she simply wanted to please ole Henry...And demonstrate her capacity for compassion to  
the lower orders...

Who knew, maybe she was in love with her cousin...? Unable to act on it, perhaps, but  
desperate to please him...

The boat was drifting out into the center of the lake...At least in pursuit of one oar, he noted, if rather  
slowly...

Oddly enough she didn't seem much distressed by the situation...Lost out on the lake with her  
cousin's ragamuffin charity case "friend"... The "dangerous radical" William Soames Walthrop...A  
joking sobriquet she'd placed on him at dinner the other night...Which her father had taken quite  
serious umbrage at...Glaring at the "radical" Henry had smuggled into his home all the rest of the  
evening...

Well, he supposed if she was so determined to take it calmly, the least he could do was demonstrate  
similar fortitude...

In the end, after all, he could always try...Drowning...er swimming...back to the shore, dragging the  
boat behind...

"Don't be distressed..." she told him...Kindly, he noted with surprise...

William...she paused...

He stared at her ...

"We can just drift a bit...We'll catch up to one of the oars soon enough..."

Tell me about your family...William...she eyed him...

"Henry says...He told me...Your mother died last year..."

Tuberculosis...he nodded...

And years of slaving like a dog...With beatings from the masters to boot...

"Amazing what "gentlemen" can get away with when the woman beaten almost to death by her  
employer is a poor servant..." he noted...  
God save the Queen, our just legal system, and our noble Parliament...

"Henry is hoping to better things like that..." she noted...

When he gets to Parliament...

I wish there were more like him...William noted simply...

"I've always said it...He is a good man...And my friend..."

Who owes you a great deal, William...she looked at him...

"He needed a bit of help...I was glad to oblige..."

"He would have failed and been sent down...If you hadn't taken him in hand..."

"I rather enjoyed helping a toff..." William said curtly...

Nice to have one indebted to one...Can come in handy...

"Are you always so ready to snap at anyone who shows you a little kindness...?" she glared...

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean that..."

As I didn't mean to hurt you the other day...she noted...

I thought you could take criticism...You certainly claim to be able to...

"I never claimed to be a great poet, Miss Addams...I just...Try to write..."

You need more...Experience...William...

"I've had years of it, Miss Addams...Assisting my mother and her fellows in service, working in  
factories, working anywhere I could make a few shillings...Trying to keep a roof over my brother  
and sister's heads...Bury my mother in some dignity..."

He eyed her...

You can't know the "experience" I've had...And frankly, I'm glad for you, you haven't...

It was clouding up and getting gusty...

"I may have had more "experience" than you can imagine, William..."

He stared at her...

"My name, by the way, is Cicely...Please use it...I don't like calling you by your first if you refuse to  
use mine..." she smiled wanly at him...

She looks tired...He noted...As if she's been working at the books or something...All night...

"Perhaps we'd best try heading in..." he looked at her...

Wouldn't want to compromise your reputation any further...

"I can bear a little "compromising"..." she smiled...Stared at him...

Was she...Nervous?...

And looked away...

"Henry thinks you have a great future..." she began...

Henry...Is a very kind friend...

"But when you get your degree..."

I will be a poor man with a degree from Cambridge, two others to feed...And...

A very bad poet...

"Your story the other night was very good..." she paused... "You have promise..."

A tale to friends about my working days...A hair better than my poems...

As your friend Henderson pointed out...When he gave me my new nickname...

"Bloody Aw..."

"Henderson is an ass!..." she eyed him fiercely...

You wrong me to call him my friend...

He stared at her...So angry...So suddenly...

Like a summer storm...

For...Him?...

"Are you going to let a fool like him tell you to stop...?" she went on...

Is that what your mother killed herself for...So you could give up at the first hint of criticism?...

"I have to think practically...Mouths to feed, remember?..."  
"Don't belittle my opinions, Will...iam...Just because I don't know hunger and cold right now  
doesn't mean I don't understand..."practicalities"..." she told him crossly... "I'm not a little fool, you  
know..."

Just because you must think of the practical doesn't mean...The romantic in you has to die...she  
muttered...Looking out toward shore...

Odd...? He could almost...Think she was talking about...herself...

The romantic mustn't die, Will...she looked back at him...Life's not worth living without it...

Wind was really picking up now...Boat rocking...

"Are you all right?..." she looked at him...

Just...he paused...

A trifle...Giddy...

A swell caught them neatly, lifting the boat, turning it over...

"William!..." she cried, grabbing for him...With simply amazing speed...

But a hair too slow...They went in separately...

He bobbed up...Much to his own surprise...

She wasn't there...He looked round in terror...

"Cicely!..." he screamed...

"Cicely!"

He pushed himself back down...And found her just under the upturned boat, stunned by striking the  
side...

Grabbing her, he desperately dived back under, while trying to cover her mouth and nose from the  
water...And popped up with her on the other side...She coughing and choking as he propped her up  
against the upturned boat...

He saved me that day, Buffy told Xander quietly, staring out the car window...And I thought...He's  
tougher than he looks...This sweet little William...

And he is a beautiful soul...A true romantic under that front...Who needs someone...Like me...

He can see it, I can tell...He sees there's more in me than some vain little fool...He can see the  
Slayer...  
And even more...The fellow romantic...

He'll do for me...I want him...

God bless you, dear Henry...For bringing him to me...

If we have the courage...I can escape my fate...With him... And help him escape too...I know he has  
the courage...I feel it...

If he wants me...If he can love me...

Best to get that straight, Miss Addams...And I will...

But I think...He could...He does...

If I can make him believe my story...And we have the courage...

Buffy paused...bowing her head and rubbing her temples...Xander continuing to listen quietly...

"I didn't tell him..." she said simply...

I was afraid...Afraid I'd lose him...

"I thought I could escape with him...I married him...But I knew...I was putting him in danger..."

"Oh...God, I loved him so much...!...But it was wrong...I couldn't let him die..."

And they were coming...Darla, Dru, and Angelus...The worst I'd ever faced...And I couldn't just  
leave London to them...

"I couldn't run from what I was..."

And...Then...she pondered...

Then my Watcher offered me a solution...

Xander glanced at her...

She shook her head...Shrugging...

"Cicely takes her own good time coming out...I'll just have to wait for the rest to surface..."

We're here...he told her...As the car pulled to a stop...Outside the grounds of William's new resting  
place...

"Beautiful place, isn't it?..." she eyed him...

Will and I didn't have much time to look it over...But it seemed nice...

Yeah...he nodded kindly...

It is a nice place...

"Well..." William stared at her as she stood with Xander in his new crypt's ground level...

Nice of you to drop by, Slayer...

"Care for something?...Thanks to ole Xan here..." he grinned at Xander... "I actually have a  
working fridge now..."

She shook her head...Looking around...

"We...Ummn...Should get some posters or something for you...From the house..."

Lower level only, my girl...he smiled coolly at her...

Groundspeople do swing by on occasion...

"Dawn...Says hi...Hopes you're ok..."

As ok as a dead man can be...he grinned...

She looked at him...

"Leave us a minute or two, Xander?..." she turned to him...

Just a minute alone...

Please...?

"A minute...Maybe two..." Xander replied...Eyeing Will...And headed outside...

"So...Miss Summers..." Will sat on the large stone slab in the center of the crypt...

Something on your mind...?

"Whatever you think...About what happened that night..." she said carefully, not looking at him...

"That night was a century ago...And Cicely...And William...Are long dead..." he noted...

So...Nothing to trouble your little head over...

She looked at him now...  
"I loved you, Will..."

You don't even know me, Buffy...he looked up at her...

"Spike was your little playmate last year...Whatever contribution I managed to make..."

"Don't do this Will...You went to Africa to come back to me...All the way..."

Spike went to Africa...To get the chip out...And come back and kill you...he smiled at her...

"He just picked the wrong god...One with a sense of ironic humor..."

Giles doesn't believe that...Buffy eyed him...

"He told me...The demon must have sensed you within...And what you really wanted..."

Hell...she grinned for the first time...

"You oughta know better than anyone...Spike was the only demon in the world with a decent sense  
of humor..."

I'm dead...Buffy...

I'm a dead man...With a vicious demon barely restrained inside him...

Who's killed thousands of people...At least a few of whom were more or less totally innocent...

"I was dead...Twice as Buffy...Once as Cicely..."

It's no picnic...But...I dealt...

"You weren't a mad killer, love..." he sighed...

You're not a killer, William...You're not resp...

"Spike is me!..." he got up, glaring...

My id, if you like...

But he is made from me...My dark half...

All they got out of you...Was the Nibs...he grinned at her...

"We all have a dark side, Will..."

You just haven't seen mine...

"Haven't I, pet?..." he looked at her...

I've seen Anne...Remember...?

Anne?...Buffy stared at him...

"Your demonic counterpart...Spike's seen her hovering round you...I've seen her...Hoping, praying  
for her chance...When you were with us in the crypt before...At our mercy..."

You have quite a demon sister, girl...he looked away...

"Why, Cicely...?" he stared back at her...

Why didn't you try to help me?...I cried out to you from Spike, Buffy...

You never heard me...

"I'm sorry..." she began...he waved her off...

He paced the crypt, continuing quietly...

As long as you got what you wanted...What you needed...You were happy to leave me as I was...

"Just as you used me in 1880...And spit me out when you were done..."

No...Will...

"I loved you so, Cicely...I stayed...Hung on...All these years...Because somehow, I couldn't believe  
that you'd done it...Somehow, I thought...You'd come for me..."

"I didn't...William...I loved you...I came back..." she gasped...

I'm "beneath you..."...Sound familiar?...he smiled...

"You still remembered it a century later...That night in the bar..."

I didn't know...I didn't know...she stared helplessly at him...

"Well...You have your hero now...Angel...A trade up, I'd say..." he nodded at her...

She looked back at him...

Don't worry...Miss Addams...he smiled at her...

I'll make no trouble about the divorce...Or annulment if you prefer...

"But then, I imagine your father arranged that for you after I died, eh...?"  
"He wanted to..." she eyed him...

I wouldn't let him...

He stopped in his pacing...

"You were the Slayer then, weren't you?"

Yes...she nodded...

And never told me...?

"I was afraid to...I thought...You'd leave me...Or worse...You'd try to fight with me..."

Why did you make me leave, Cicely?...Why that night of all nights?...

"I don't remember...Yet...Everything that happened..." she paused...

But Will...I didn't do it because I hated you...

I came back...I'm here...Because I love you...

"What happened to my brother and sister...?" he asked her suddenly...

Amelia, Philip...Do you remember them at all?...

I...she paused...

Sister...? Brother...? she thought, trying to concentrate...

"No...I didn't think you would..." he eyed her...

Will...

"Miss Addams...?...If you don't mind...I'd like a little time to think now..."

Alone...he stared at her...

She got up...Shaken and lost as he'd ever seen her...As bad as she'd been that day...He'd patched her  
poor hands...

"I guess...You need some time to think too, Buffy..." he told her, a bit more kindly...

She looked at him...

It's the kindness...In the eyes...

"I love you, William...Don't forget that..." she said quietly...

And I will wait...As long as it takes you...To come home to me...

She went to the entrance and called Xander back...

***

Deathwishes...Part XIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XIV...

The Master of the Sunnydale Universe is back...Warren thought happily...Eyeing the assembled  
demon allies...

All four of them...Amy noted to herself, watching her partner inspecting them...A proud Napoleon  
reviewing the Grande Armee...

Well, doesn't take much to make nerd boy happy...

And, she thought in spite of herself...Is kinda nice to see him happy...

No more talk of leaving Sunnydale...Leaving her...From him...Even with the long odds against  
them...

Still...she eyed him, hesitant...If we left now...If I could get him to take me and go...

He'd leave me...Soon as we were safe...If we ever could be safe...And Willow would go back to her  
happy life...Untouched, unbothered...Just a minor bit of make-up with the family...And a little  
remorse in the soul, quickly eased when Warren is revealed to still be among the living...

Of course...If we pull this off...For even a little while...He'll get rid of me as soon as he can...

It's just a matter of whether he kills me or Buffy or Willow does...  
And what does it matter?...To dead rat girl...

"Amy..." he called her over...

The boys would like a leetle display of your prowess, babe...

"If you don't mind...Just something simple to convince 'em we've got what it takes..."

Sure...she nodded and headed over, a faint note of eagerness in her voice...

Somebody needs me...

For a little while...

On the one hand...Dawn noted...Sitting at her sis' Willow-gift laptop...

Getting into Buffy's email is a violation of her privacy...One that I would never tolerate myself...

On the other hand...God I've gotta know what Giles sent her about Cicely and William...

Really he should've known enough to send copies to me...

Back to that first hand...What if there's something really, really personal in this stuff?...Not to  
mention the non-Giles stuff...Maybe something from Angel expanding on whatever he said to her  
last year when they met...

Hmmn...That sounds like a case for the other hand, for sure...If only to protect my (gulp)  
broth...Yikes!...Not yet!...Back up, Dawn, back up...Ummn...Will's interests...(Not that I'm  
forgetting the attempted rape of course...though...Spike's attempted rape...)

And there could be stuff concerning me...

Say an evaluation of my character...Or some plan with Giles for sending me off to an English  
boarding school when she gets back into college...

But back to first hand...How could I ever keep quiet about anything I read?...If it's any good...

I'd never be able to keep it in ...She'd be hurt...And she's been hurt a lot...

Other hand again...I am made from Buffy after all...Part of her...And Cicely, really...

He sent the stuff to both of us really...And I don't have to look at anything else...

As junior Slayer-in-training I must be kept informed...Especially as regards William the  
Bloody...(My b-in-l...Ohmigod!...)

And she does have her password right out...In the bottom of her desk drawer...In case she forgets it...

Practically an invitation to go on in...

***

He loves me...He loves me not...Anya stacked the Imhotep figurines on the main display table of the  
Box...

Females...Loves...

Males...Loves not...

Hmmn...This male one has a chip...Definite discard...

This one...Discolored...Really gotta speak to my supplier in Egypt...Another male for the discard  
pile...

Hmmn she smiled...Looks like it's...Shoot...

Broken arm on this female...But hey...It'll still work...Doesn't look bad at all...Definitely a keeper...

And the winner is...

Xander entered the shop with a troubled look on his face...

Troubled...And he came to me...

I tell ya...The Imhoteps are right on the money every time...

"Hey, Xander..." she called...

Whatdaya think?...she pointed to the stack of figurines...

Uh-huh...he nodded...

It's bad...

"Oh...?" she blinked...Staring at the stack...

What's wrong with them...? she asked...A little crestfallen...

Not a good omen...

"Everything...An...I tell ya...I'm worried..." he sighed, moving to their research area and taking a  
seat...

Oh?...she looked at the figurines...

Very bad omen...

Soul or no soul...he shook his head...

"Oh...You mean Buffy...er Cicely...And William...?" she perked up a bit...

What did you think I meant...?

"Nothing...So what's the matter...?"

"What's the matter...?" he stared at her...

An...Buffy believes she's the reincarnation of Spike's dead wife...

And that she's responsible for driving him to Drusilla...

He seems to share that opinion...

It might even...Be true...he sighed...

"And worst of all...I can't just stake him to make it all go way now that he's got a soul again..."

"Where is Buffy?..." she asked...

Took her home...he replied...

"Dawn go home?..." he looked around...

Yeah...Anya nodded...

Guess it's just us...she smiled wanly...

He looked at her a moment...

"I never got a chance to say...Thanks..." he told her...

For coming with me this morning...And keeping me from...

You know...he rolled his eyes...

"Was Will really angry with her?..."

I think he's...Looking for someone to blame...

Ah...Anya nodded...Anger...  
"It's one of the stages..."

Stages...? he stared at her...

In facing death...she explained...

"I was reading this article about the stages humans experience in facing death...Fear, Anger,  
Bargaining, and so forth to Acceptance..."

An...?

"You remember...I wanted to understand humans' fear of death...Back when Mrs. Summers died  
and I got all death-obsessed..."

But...William...he began...

"I know...He died a century ago...But he never got the chance to go through the stages..."

So...I figure...He's doing it now...

Hmmn...She could actually be right...he noted to himself...

"Buffy...Cicely...Just has to be patient while he gets through this..." she noted...

Actually...he paused...

That's just about what she told him...That she'd give him all the time he needed...

"She loves him, An..." he shook his head...

My poor Buffy...What is she gonna do?...

"There are worse things that finding your true love after a century, Xander..." Anya replied...

She might have lost him to Spike forever...But now...

"There are worse things..." she eyed him...

***

Holy shit...Dawn stared at the screen...

It can't be...

But it is...

The eyes of a digital copy of a portrait of Ms. Cicely Addams, 1878 stared back at her...  
Could it just be a resemblance?...Halfreck did look older...And something heftier...

Jesus...She came to me...

Naturally...I was made from her former client...Hell, no...

Her current client...

She's not here because of my little depression...She's not my "justice demon"...

She's...Buffy's...

Anya...I've got to call An...

"Dawn!..." Buffy called from the front door...

Yipe...she hastily began shutting down...

Hmmn...Buffy looked good as a brunette...

***

"Well..." Zorg, the Germanic older demon smiled at Amy...

A most impressive display of magical ability...

Absolutely...Warren beamed at her...

Ummn...Thanks...she nodded to their new ally...Smiling a little at Warren...

I was on my toes there...she grinned inwardly...

"This little scheme may indeed have a chance..." Zorg eyed her carefully...

And you really feel the new Ms. Summers will cooperate with us...?

"She'll be evil...That's all I really can guarantee..." Amy noted...

You know Evil generally has an eye on its own best interests...Warren quickly chimed in...

And our Amy will see to that Buffy the Vampire can't harm any of us...

"The new Buffy will deal...She'll see the benefits quick enough..." he smiled...

Perhaps...Zorg nodded...

But if not...What the hell...She'll be one of us and even if she kills us, Evil as a whole wins...he  
shrugged, smiling...

Ah...A selfless patriot for the Dark Side...Warren thought...

Laudable...But not quite to my way of thinkin'...

But I have a feeling...If Summers grows a brain tonight...With our help...And starts looking out for  
Number One...She'll be willing to deal...

With me...

"We should finalize things if we're gonna make an attempt tonight..." he pointed out...Pulling out a  
map...

Excellent idea...Zorg agreed...

Gentlemen...he called his fellows over...

We're all attention, my friend...he smiled at Warren...

Who glanced at Amy...Watch me, kiddo...Watch how Daddy handles this sort of thing...

She couldn't keep a wan smile off her face...

"Now..." Warren began...

Amy and I will be in position when you fellas reach the cemetery...

***

Hmmn...Dawn pondered as she headed to the stairs...

Tell her...And risk the wrath of Buffy-Cicely?...

Plus maybe having her go off half-cocked after a powerful "justice demon" like  
Halfreck...Demanding answers...Seeking "justice"...Against rather than from her...

And God knows what those answers, if given, might be...Possibly something that might bring poor  
Buffy more shame and remorse than anyone...Especially a recently resurrected anyone... could  
handle...

Or hold off...Let her head over to her Doublemeat shift and Patrol...And give ole Anya a call at first  
chance...

Get some vengeance demon protection enlisted on our side...

And...Maybe...With all due caution...  
Speak to my in-law...(Ohmigod!...)

***

"You got 'em eating out of our hand, girly..." Warren smiled at Amy...

Nice job...

Thanks...she nodded...

"We are gonna pull this one off, Amy..." he grinned...

It'll be you and me, kiddo...Lord and lady of Sunnydale...With Buffy as our very own pet vamp...

"Yeah...Look, Warren..." she sighed...

"I need somebody and I'm willing to admit I like you...But just keep in mind...I'm not stupid and if  
you start playing games with me...Well, I don't have Willow's power...So my defleshing would have  
to be the slow way..."

Hey...he put up his hands...

"You're the one with the power, lady..." he nodded...

For now, bitch...he did not say...

***

Deathwishes...Part XV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XV...

"So..." Dawn ran down the st

irs and up to her sis...Bright and chipper...  
"How'd it go with...Ummn...William...?"

Her eyes are rolling up...I know that look...What the hell has she done now?...Buffy  
wondered...Frowning a bit...

Was she in my room again?...

Still...

Sis-in-law rates the latest on her bro...

"He was better..." she nodded...

Settling in at the new place...

Much less suicidal...she did not say...

Much less suicidal I hope she likewise did not say...

"What did you say...? What did he say?...Did you tell him what Giles told us?...What did he  
say?..."

Lots...Very little...Yeah...Repeat that last one, please...Buffy replied...

"Buffy!...What happened...?...I want details!..."

"It's complicated, Dawn...He's dealing with a lot of things...So am I...And right now, supper and  
getting off to work are two of them..." she moved toward the kitchen...And stopped...

But...If you want... "Details"...Here's one...

"I told him I loved him...And I'd wait as long as it takes for him to figure things out..." she  
continued to the kitchen, leaving Dawn with her lower jaw down near the floor...

Holy...

***

Dinner...?...And a movie?...And it can be a "chick flick"?...Anya eyed Xander as they stood in the  
main room of the now closed Box...

I make my sorrow and undying love...The no-doubts-about-it undying love of an immortal  
vengeance demon, I might add, not the vaguely-hoping-in-an-afterlife human variety...Subtly clear  
to you...

"And that's the best you can offer me...?"

Cicely offered William better...At least she made a clean break...No nonsense about "lets try dating  
once in a while..."

"I thought you didn't believe Buffy...er Cicely actually did it?..." Xander noted, quickly seeking the  
outstanding diversionary topic...

"That's beside the point!...Xander...! What the hell's wrong with you...? We're watching a great  
love tale unfolding to its climax...Lovers separated by a cruel and hideous fate...A heartless  
God...Giving serious merit to Humanity reconsidering the benefits of polytheism, where you can  
always find another god to appeal to, I might note..."

And all you can do...With Will's incredible example staring you in the face...Is offer me a cheap  
night out?...And you, the "Man of Love"...she bowed her head, looking away...

"But I guess that only applies to Willow Rosenberg..." she sadly noted... "And only when she's  
insane..."

An...

"Please...Let me save you the cash..." she waved her hands...

"Is that what you want...?" he frowned... "For me to get vamped, keep my soul hanging around for  
love of you for a century, and then...Maybe...You'll consider taking me back...?"

You think I want you hurt?...God, Harris if I wanted you hurt...she gave a grim smile...Believe me...

She sighed...Staring at his beautiful face...Wishing...No...No, no, no...Beautiful face intact, not one  
iota changed...In fact I was wishing for a diet coke...

And not for him to become a diet coke, D-H...

"Xander...What I want should be clear, even to you...It's simple...But I'll even go so far as to tell  
you..."

I want you to go down on your knees, ask my forgiveness...Then, ask me again to marry you and  
this time...Mean it...

Ummn...

"Ummn?...Xander, there is no room for "Ummn" here!..." tears running down her face...

Out!...she pointed...

"Anya...Look...There are reasons...Some..." he paused...

Some would be the... "Xander, that's ridiculous...You're a good man...Don't worry we'll be fine..."  
...kind...  
But...Others...he sighed...

"I wouldn't hurt you for the world, An...But..."

What are the reasons...? she asked quietly...

Tell me...The "Xander, that's ridiculous..." ones first...

"I deserve to know..."

He nodded...

"Back at the wedding...After your former victim showed me a phony future...Our phony future...I  
started thinking about how my parents turned out..." he began...

That is ridiculous, Xander...You're not your father...You don't drink to abusive drunkenness, just to  
beer belly...And you've been working on that pretty well...

"I couldn't bear us to be unhappy in the end...Like them...And hurt our kids...The way they hurt  
me..." he looked at her...

Still ridiculous...In a noble, well-meant way...she noted...

"I'm not afraid of us, Xander...We won't be your parents..."

And I was afraid...he paused...

This one...Likewise ridiculous, I guess...

"I was afraid...I might die...Fighting things from the Hellmouth with Buffy...And leave you and the  
kids...(gulp)...If any...Alone..."

Now that one is so...easily dealt with...she smiled a bit...

"I'll hit you over the head or drug you and lock you in the house every time a new menace comes to  
Sunnydale..."

Heck I was gonna do that anyway...

"An..."

"Ok...We'll do the fight-and-die-together thing...I was a Viking girl...We're good at ritual suicide..."

Besides...It's sure to be the road Buffy and William will follow from now on...And if it's good  
enough for the Slayer and her honey...

"There's more...Less ridiculous..." he eyed her...  
More...Painful...Actually...

"Used to pain...Go on..." she tensed a bit...Guessing...

"I don't blame you for what you did after the wedding...I understand...But..."

She blinked...Oh...

"Oh my God!...Haly was right!...A half-assed test she called it..."

That's it, right?...This was a test...And I failed...

"No...An...I wouldn't..."

But that's how it comes out, right?...Things got tough...I resumed my old career...

Grade...F...

He stared at her...

"I failed, didn't I?..." she looked at him, despairingly...He just stared...

Xander, you knew what I was...You said it made no difference...

"An...You were human again...I thought the past didn't matter...I guess...I thought of Anyanka like  
Angelus..."

Different species entirely...Driven solely by instinct...No soul merging...she replied...

"The thing is...I thought she was gone...For good...So I never..."

Blamed me...For the past...? she eyed him...

"You were human...A wonderful, loving human...But you chose to be a monster again..."

A so-far, non-lethal monster...she hastily noted...

I know, he nodded...

But An...How can I be sure...If things get tough someday...?

"You think I'd hurt you?...And the (gulp) kids...All 2.5 of them?..."

Never us...he shook his head...

But maybe...Others...

"Oh...I don't know Mr. Harris...Hurting you is looking less and less like an impossibility..." she  
glared...

"You tested me!...Without showing me the exam sheet and answers beforehand?..."

Is that love, Xander?...Is that trust?...she looked away...

"Get out!..." she pointed...

"Out!...Before I..."

He moved to the door...

"I haven't harmed anyone, Xander..." she said quietly, not looking at him...

I don't intend to...

You should have trusted me...

"Don't come back, please..." she looked coldly at him now...

Except on Scooby business, of course...My shop is still part Giles'...And anyway, as a non-lethality  
committed member of a rational soul-merged demon race...I support efforts to avert mass murder  
and world destruction...

"Whether you believe in me or not..." she added...

"I'm sorry, Anya..."

Anyanka to you...she coldly noted...

He went out the door...She went over to a mirror on the wall...

"Mirror, mirror...On my wall..."

Who's the biggest fool of them all?...

Yeah...she stared at her demon face...

Smashing her head against the glass until it cracked and the blood ran...

***

Jorge stared at Miss Summers...Behind the Doublemeat counter...In her Doublemeat chicken/cow  
hat...

"This the big future I get if I follow your advice, lady?..." he smirked...  
I told you, kid...Glamorous facade...Harsh reality...she smiled back...

And no...This is the big future you get if you don't take it...

"So...Who's advice didn't you follow?..." he asked her...

More than half serious, she realized...

My heart's...she replied...Smiling wanly at him...

But...I'm workin' on it...  
*****Deathwishes...**

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Play main theme..."Hey There..."

Part I...

This makes six...Buffy thought...As she re-entered Spike's old graveyard...

Six times in one night...The record to date...

God...If the others found out...Hell to pay...

And I'm not a little...Pissed at myself...

Checking Spike's old place to see if he's come ho...Back...

A light shined in her eyes a second...Damn...

"Hold it!..." A guard called to her...Hurrying over...

Ever since Riley and I blasted the damned old crypt...Guards on every shift...

"This is private property, miss..."

Hmmn...she eyed the middle-aged guard in his uniform...

Wait a minute...

"You're a vampire..." she glared at him...

Slayer?...He blanched...

"Just earning a living, ma'am..." he pleaded...

No kills when I'm on the job...Hell, I probably protect more people driving them off from here than I  
ever kill...er killed...When I still killed...Before I got a responsible job and could buy blood...he  
hastily noted...

Please?...he gulped...

"I even have a human partner working with me...Still fine, still breathing...Come on over and you  
can see for yourself..."

"Lets see 'im..." she sighed...

I can tell him your car broke down...You just need to make a call or something...he noted helpfully...

"Actually I do..." she replied curtly...

Bout time I checked in with Dawny...she thought...

They passed a large monument...Both tensed...Sensing...

"Do you feel something too?..." the vamp guard eyed her...

I try to shoo em away...My job...he noted rather proudly...

Suddenly a harsh cry...And something...Someone came crashing down on the Slayer...

A blonde Someone...

"Spike!" Buffy screamed at the vampire as he held her down...

The other fellow vamoosing as fast as his little guard's legs could carry him...

Though to his credit...To fetch help in the form of his partner...

Not exactly the hunter type, this one...

Spike in work face was holding her down...But somehow she wasn't afraid or even overly  
concerned...

He somehow didn't seem ready to follow things through to the conclusion...

But seemed anxious to convince her he was...

"You're gonna die now Slayer!..." he repeated...Somehow without that ole Spikean menace...

And he seemed to be avoiding doing anything particularly lethal...Though...

Did he just try to cop a feel?...

Gee...Kinda missed that touch of his...

"Damnit, Spike!" she hollered at him, throwing him off...

What the hell do you think you're doing?...

"I'm going to kill you, Buffy!..." he cried...But somehow it lacked conviction...

Still...She couldn't let the ambush...Or the feel...Slide...

She kicked him back hard...

"Spike!...I've had enough of you!..."

This time...she began...It's really ov...

She saw the tears in his eyes...Streaming a bit...Now...

"William...?" she gasped...

What's wrong...?

"Kill me!..." he screamed at her...

Kill me or I'll kill you!...Buffy...he paused...

Couldn't call her...Buffy...And go on with it...he dropped to his knees, sobbing...

"William..." she stared at him...

"Kill me...Kill me, please...Buffy..."

If you ever gave a damn for me...Kill me now...he looked up at her...

He tried to rise up at her...But...

"Look at me..." he shook his head through the tears...

I can't even get the Slayer to kill me...

"Will...What's wrong?...What's happened...?" she looked at him...

My God...she gasped, seeing him clearly...

Where the hell did you get those scars?...

Africa...he sighed...

Fought a demon god and his minions...Won...

Or lost...Depends on your pov...he shook his head...

Hmmn...Beat a god?...Nice...she thought...

But why the...?

"Spike?...What the hell are you doing attacking me like that?...You know I could've killed you just  
now..."

He glared at her...What the hell do you think I did it for, moron?...His look clearly saying...

"Long way from killing me, I'd say..." he grumbled...

But...Since she clearly wasn't in a killer mood...And he'd exhausted the limits of his ability to  
menace...He got up, dusting himself off...

No Slayer coat, she noticed...And his hair looks...A little more natural...

As a fellow peroxider she had an instinct for these things...

"How's things been with you, Slayer?..." he asked politely...

Well...she began...Eager to tell all...Hell, why else had she been checking this place out every night  
for weeks but to tell her boyf...Tell her former nemesis...About things...

Whoops...Gotta maintain discipline...No one attacks the Slayer...Or cops a feel on Buffy Summers...

"I really should stake you right now, Spike..." she glared...

He put a hand to his face...Please do, he muttered...

"What?..." she stared at him...

"I want you to kill me...Is that clear and monosyllabic enough for you?..." he eyed her...

Kill...You?...she stared at him...

When you just came home...To me?...she thought...

Er...Just got back...To annoy us...she mentally corrected...

Kill...Me...Yes...he glared at her...

"You are still the Slayer, right?...It's what you do, right, love?..."

Ummn...Well...Right, my lo...er Love...she thought...

But...

"Spike, why do you want me to kill you?..."

"Because I want what's left of Spike...In me...Dead..."

So, if you wouldn't mind...  
"How's about doin' your duty, Ms. Summers...?"

Here...he picked the stake she'd dropped...

Ummn...she stared at him...

"If you don't...I might just pay a call on dear old Dawny...Or the others..." he glared...

"So...?" she eyed him...

The chip wouldn't let you hurt them...

"William...Why do you want to die?..." A thought suddenly sparking in her mind...He  
feels...Different...

Summers...he sighed...I just attacked you...I tried to assault you...Damnit girl, what does it take?...

Ok...he threw up his hands...

"I should've tried ole Harris first anyhow...I was just afraid he'd hurt himself trying to kill me..."

Xander?...

"No!..." she cried...

"You can't go there...He really might kill you..."

Hello...he eyed her...

"What have I just been asking you for...?...Do you think I'm lying?..."

"I don't understand Spike..." she looked at him...

"Why...?" Now when we're back together...she desperately brushed the thought away...

Oh, my God...she thought...

Nah...It couldn't be...I'm just upset and my senses are a little dull...

"Hey!" the vamp guard was returning...With his promised human buddy...

Great...Buffy looked back at him and his friend as they raced up...

I had to find the one with a sense of social responsibility...

A Slayer-saving vampire...

"It's o..." she began...Spike grabbing her from behind...

"This girl's dead if you two make a move!..." he cried...

God, not again...Spike!...What the hell's with you?...she thought, squirming...

But not enough to break loose...Eyeing the pistol in the human's hand...And the wooden stick, torn  
from something in her vamp guard's...

My vamp hero...she rolled her eyes...But stayed in Spike's grip...

"Let her go..." the human guard cried...

Or I shoot...

Spike tossed her at them...And moved back...A clear target...

"Got him, Slayer..." the vamp guard whispered to her as he passed her...

No!...she screamed, hopping up...Tearing the stake from the vamp's hand...

The other fired at William...No effect beyond his reeling back a bit...

Stings, those silly little things...

The human guard fell back and ran for his call box...His friend following...

Staring at the strange Slayer he'd tried to help...Geesh...

Well...They say the Slayers have a death wish...he noted, turning to run after his pal...

She ran up to Spike who stood against the large monument he'd jumped her from...

With the vamp guard's stake in his hand...Scooped up from where she'd tossed it...

"Spike is almost gone...Let me finish the job..." he pleaded...

"I know...I know...But...Please...No!...Will...Please don't!..." she cried...Grabbing for his hand...

"Don't leave me!...William...Please...No...God, don't leave me now..." she sobbed...Embracing him  
as she twisted the stick out of his hand...

Don't leave me again, Will...Please...Stay...

"I love you..." she whispered in his hair...

Not Spike...You...  
I never stopped loving you...William...Never...

"Cicely?.." he breathed...

She blinked at him...Every bit as confused as he...

***  
A young man entered a dive just outside the Sunnydale limits...

A young man of pudgy aspect...With a harassed, hunted look to him...A guiltily hunted look...

And a ridiculous looking phony beard and wig...

He nervously beckoned the barkeep over, demanding whiskey...

"Id?..." the barkeep eyed him...

"What...?" he stared at the man...Looking round the dive...A coupla elderly barflies hanging  
round...One clearly a demon at that...

Hey...Law's the law...the barkeep eyed him...

The young man fumblingly pulled out his wallet...Phony id...

"Juilo Hernandez?..." the barkeep regarded him, looking carefully at the id...

That's me...Warren nodded...

And you're 34...? the barkeep smiled...

"You gonna sell me the drink or no...?"

No...the man shook his head...

I look too young?...Warren stared at him...

"Nope...I just don't like smart-assed punks..."

Out...the barkeep pointed...

"Or what...?" Warren stood up...

Or I pull the trigger...the barkeep smiled...Pulling out a shotgun...

Ok..Warren put his hands up...

Ok...No problemo...  
"Too early in the day for me anyway..." he muttered, backing away...

A woman stood in the doorway, eyeing him...

With a wide smirk...

"Hey, Warren..." she grinned at him as he backed up towards the door...and her...

Jesus!...He jumped, whirling round...

Hi...she nodded...

Right on time, Mr. Mears...she smiled...Pointing to a dark booth...

He's ok, Henry...she called to the barkeep...Who frowned but put his gun away...

"Come and sit down...Before you fall down, Warren..." the woman patted him...

"Will you can it?..." he frowned at her...Taking a seat in the booth across from her...

"That anyway to talk to the girl who saved your miserable hide from the most powerful wiccan the  
world's seen...At least in quite a while..." she frowned back...

Hey...he glared...The idea was mine...

But the talent was mine...she eyed him...

Your robot and then your pitiful clone would never have fooled Willow for a second without my  
ability...

Not to mention my helping you grow clone boy in a few hours instead of 24 years...she noted...

And I expect you to keep your part of our bargain...Amy grinned at him...

***  
"Cicely...?" Dawn eyed Buffy...

He called you...Cicely?...

Yeah. Buffy nodded tersely...As they approached the grounds of the new Sunnydale High...

"The girl who dumped him in 1880?..." Dawn looked at her sis...

Yeah.

"Seems they had more of a history than he let on that night..." Buffy frowned...

Oh...? Dawn turned to her, holding up a moment...

Yeah.

"And...?" Dawn frowned, staring at her sis...Who had also refrained from mentioning her own little  
burst of bizarre emotion during the encounter...

Married...Buffy growled out, a bit reluctant...

What?...Dawn blinked at her...Halting in her tracks...

"Married?...Spike?..."

"Just a day or two..." Buffy looked away...

Then she chased him away...And he died...she looked back at Dawn...

Definitely something going on in there...Dawn thought, looking at Buffy's clouded face...

"And he thinks you're...?"

Seems to be his notion...As of last night, at least...Buffy paused...

Though he hinted he was beginning to think he'd sensed it all along...

"Ridiculous, of course..." Buffy noted...Looking up the road towards the waiting new high school  
building...And her new career...As well as Dawn's next step towards adulthood...

"I make a coupla silly coincidental remarks to him...That happen to be things this Cicely said to  
him...A century ago..."

And tell him I never betrayed him, never stopped loving him...she did not say...

As ridiculous as the soul thing...she looked at Dawn...

Something in her eyes saying something quite different, Dawn realized...

"But...I humored him...Said I'd look into it with Giles..." Buffy continued...

He seemed kinda...Depressed...Even a little...Crazy...

"Like Angel?..." Dawn asked, a bit anxious...

"It couldn't be true...Could it...?" Buffy looked at her sis...

A soul...?

"Sounds like he's feeling the remorse thing..." Dawn noted...

But Giles would be the one to ask...When he gets back...she hastily added...

"Anya might be able to tell..." Buffy eyed her...

One demon can sense another...Even if she is part human still...

"Maybe..." Dawn nodded...

But...Buffy...? If the soul thing is true...?

"I'll be careful with him, Dawn...I won't take any chances..." Buffy replied reassuringly...

Well...Good...Dawn nodded...But...

"What do we do...For him...If it is true?..."

I...Buffy paused...

I don't know...she looked on down the street where a mix of eager, phony jaded, and truly jaded  
students were converging on the school grounds...Groups beginning to cluster at various spots...

What if...? Dawn resumed...And stopped...

"We'll deal with Will's soul...If it is back...When the time comes..." Buffy shook her head...

We have enough to worry about right now...

"Anyway, I got him to go to a new crypt last night...Clem took what stuff he had of his to him...He'll  
be ok for now..."

He promised not to...Do anything...she looked at Dawn, hesitating...

To himself, I mean...she added...

For my sake...she did not say...

After I pleaded with him for the best part of an hour...And refused to leave without his solemn  
promise...On his new soul...If it exists...she likewise did not say...

Ok...Dawn nodded as they continued on...But...What I meant to ask was...

What if this Cicely stuff is true?...she eyed her sis...

Buffy halted...

"Are you saying it's my fault?..." she whirled on her sis...

That I condemned him?...Abandoned him...?...she glared at Dawn intently...

Ummn...No...Dawn stared at her sister...

"I just mean..."

"It has nothing to do with me!..." Buffy cried...

It was Fate!...The Powers That Be!...she insisted, her voice getting a mite shrill...

Was that a slight British accent creeping into her voice?...Dawn wondered, staring at her...

***

Deathwishes...Part II...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all  
other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part II...

Seven hours before a certain infamous house party in 1880, Cicely Addams Walthrop wrote to her  
husband in London, back at the flat he'd been lent by her cousin...

"Dearest William,

The indications are very strong that I shall shortly be fighting what may well be the greatest of my  
enemies and as I may either not be able to write you again or you may wish never to hear from me  
again, against my best judgement I am compelled to write these lines to you in the hope that they  
will fall under your eye one day when I am no more.

I have this past night sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive  
in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of Humanity  
and of the principles we have so often advocated and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear  
death" have called upon me, and I obey.

The battle I fight may be a success...And I may hope that once done, I may yet be able to explain my  
behavior of this coming evening...Acts yet to be committed which you will not understand...And  
perhaps never forgive...But not my will, but thine, O God, be done. If it be required that I fall in this  
fight for Mankind, I am ready. I have no misgivings or uncertainty in the justice of my cause...I  
know as no one else, the great debt all of us owe to my predecessor Slayers. And I am willing, truly  
willing to offer my life and soul as they have.

This day, this very morning, I informed my cousin Henry of my calling and my great sorrow and  
with difficulty convinced him of the truth of my seeming ravings...He has pledged to speak to you  
within a day of tonight's battle and will bring you proof that what he will tell you is true. I can only  
hope that hearing...And believing...You may, one day, come to understand why I choose now to send  
you away...So soon, so soon, my darling...

William, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing  
but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Mankind comes over me like a strong wind and  
bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to tonight's battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most  
gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them, however brief. And hard it is for me to give  
them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and  
loved together and seen our children grow up to honorable man? and womanhood around us. I have,  
I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me perhaps  
it is the wafted prayer of my dear departed little Edgar from Heaven that I shall return to my love  
unharmed. If I do not, my dear Will, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath  
escapes me, it will whisper your name...

Your loving  
Cicely..."

Mrs. Walthrop's cousin Henry nobly attempted to forestall her battle with the Angelus pride by  
finding and attacking them in their lair that afternoon...Left for dead by Darla, he was found and  
saved by local citizens...

Although the night's battle was prevented and the immediate menace felt to be reduced by the  
uproar in the city caused by the attack, the near death of her beloved cousin persuaded her to go  
through with her previous plan and use the demon Halfreck, summoned by her Council and her  
Watcher, Simon Farris, to impersonate her and convince her newly-wedded husband that she had  
decided their marriage had been a foolish mistake...

Attacked by Drusilla after fleeing the Foxcroft house party shattered by Cicely's icy rejection,  
William died late that night and turned shortly afterwards, Cicely prevented from reaching him in  
time to prevent his resurrection after collapsing on seeing his body in the morgue...A collapse in part  
brought on by her pregnant condition. Her letter was later found, unopened, in the flat's mailbox by  
her cousin...

She died six months later in premature childbirth, along with her stillborn daughter.

The tall, distinguished-looking, elderly man ended his reading, eyeing his two visitors...

"Is that the information you required?..." Rollins, chief archivist of the Council of Watchers eyed his  
old friend Rupert Giles who nodded and quietly thanked him for taking the risk of disbursing such  
highly guarded and sensitive information...A deeply shocked Willow beside him...

It's true...she thought as they slowly made their way out of the dim vaults of the archives...I couldn't  
believe it when Buffy called and asked us to check out Spike's crazy notion...

I mean...Sure, it was obvious somewhere in there she wanted to believe it...But...

Then Giles found out...There was a Cicely...And more, she was a Slayer...One of the greatest...But  
still...I couldn't believe the rest...God...

Deathwishes...Part III...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all  
other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...  
Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part III...

Hmmn...Buffy thought, looking around the office...

Seems like old times...Back in the principal's office...

Funny how they all look the same...

From behind his wide desk, the principal eyed Buffy with a wide smile...And began the usual spiel...

"This work-study program is an excellent chance for you to see all aspects of the teaching  
experience, Ms. Summers..."

Buffy beamed her own smile in return...Nodding dutifully...

Carefully decked out in her most professional suit...The red "throughly responsible Buffy" one...

Well, at least this one seemed relatively ok...the principal thought...

In spite of what the staff from the old high school had said...

"And of course, it will be good for your sister to have you close at hand..." he continued...

Hmmn...Just like when my mom was a teacher at my junior high...he thought...And every kid in  
school tortured me over it...  
Still, poor kid, she must be having a hell of a time raising that sis of hers alone...And trying to get  
back with college...

***  
"Xander..." Anya sighed as they strode through the graveyard...

Rather pretty actually in the morning sun...

"We should think this over..."

Uh-huh...he nodded...

"I'll think it over...Spike's ashes..." he turned to look at her...

She rolled her eyes...

"You heard what Buffy said..." she began...

He stopped and looked at her again...

"After the words... "Spike's back"...I stopped listening..." he frowned...

Don't argue with me on this, An...he muttered, resuming his pace...

"Whatever he told her last night...It's all hooey...Spike trying to get back in her good graces..."

He wanted her to kill him...Anya eyed him...

Sure he did...Xander muttered...And halted...

"Look..." he stared at her...

"Buffy has a blind spot a mile wide where William the Bloody is concerned...Ever since she came  
back to us...Maybe even before..."

Why that is...I don't know...he looked down a row of tombstones to where the large monuments and  
crypts lay...

"But like hell am I gonna believe that Spike has a soul now...And that he knew Buffy in some past  
life..."

They were married...Anya noted...If it's true...

He put up his hands, waving them as if to ward off the notion...

"Messing with minds is Spike's favorite sport...He left just long enough for her to miss him...Now  
he's back with some crazy stories...And she's buying..."  
I'm not letting her make this mistake again...

"He could've killed her last year...In his crypt...She told us that..." Anya shook her head...

I believe he's not planning to kill her...Yet...Xander glared...

He wants more than that...He's gonna have her begging for it if he can...That's what he wants...

"Buffy...?...Begging...?" Anya stared at him...

"He wants to humiliate her, An..."

Hell, Angelus could've killed her that night back when Angel lost his soul...he noted...But it was too  
much fun to let her live...And go after her friends and family, one by one...

"And that's what our dear Will is planning...Maybe foregoing the killing family and friends, thanks  
to the chip...But only thanks to that..."

He tried to protect Dawn...When Buffy was gone...Anya tried again, as they began walking down  
the row of tombstones...

"Fine...He loves Buffy...In his own bizarre, twisted way..." Xander eyed her as they walked...

Is that supposed to convince me to stand by and let her get involved with him again...?

"You're involved...Or you were...With a demon..." Anya noted quietly...

***

"I still don't see why you need me..." Warren noted to Amy as they sat in their booth...

If I didn't...she smiled...You'd've been roast flambee...And long-cold ashes right now...

"You're just lucky poor Rack thought of me when you went to him..."

And I'd say the need on your side was far greater...At least as far as survival goes...she noted...

"Am I saying I'm not grateful...?" Warren eyed her...

But going after the Slayer...Now...After my little disaster back in May?...

Can't we just leave well enough alone?...Slip off somewhere...

Together, maybe...he looked at her...

His hard past months curbing his instinctive addition of... "Babe..."...Hey, he needed this one...

She sniffed at him, coldly grinning...You and me?...Please...

Though somewhere, deep within her...Despite her full evaluation of Mears' worthless character or  
lack thereof...

Somebody wants me...A voice cried...Somebody needs me...

And hey, he's not that bad-looking...And a genius, whatever else he is...

She pushed the voice down and frowned at him...

"I'm willing to admit that I need your help, Warren...I haven't a fraction of Willow's power when  
she's juiced up..."

And you have the scientific background as well as some magics knowledge I haven't...Plus you've  
studied the Slayer and co for months...

"If I'm going to break Willow...By destroying her friends...I'll need to do it in a way she'll never  
trace back to me..."

If you're good at anything, it's covering your ass...Little man...she smiled...

"But..." Warren sighed... "What's the point?...Break Willow?...So what...?...So she becomes a mad  
superwitch again?...And destroys the world for real next time...?"

My...And you were the guy who was gonna do in the Slayer and rule the world from Sunnydale with  
the Hellmouth backing you up?...Amy eyed him coolly...

Well...That was only the long term goal...Warren noted...I woulda been happy ruling Sunnydale and  
having Buffy kneeling at my feet actually...

"Willow won't be superwitch when we've finished with her...She'll be..." Amy paused...Looking  
away..."Like me..."

Alone...

***

Deathwishes...Part IV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...  
Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part IV...

As they methodically searched the crypts of the third cemetery they'd tried  
since early morning, Anya continued to try to persuade her ex-fiancee to hold  
his stake...At least until they'd met with Buffy and seen if she'd heard back  
from Giles and Willow in England...Currently engaged in checking out William's  
story to Buffy of the previous evening...

"Why don't you let me talk to him?..." Anya desperately suggested...

Buffy was right last night...I could sense it if he's changed...If a soul is  
present...

"And you'd tell me if it wasn't...?" Xander eyed her...

If you don't believe I would, may I should just go right now...she angrily  
frowned back at him...

"I imagine D'Hoffryn has plenty for me to do..."

An...he paused, sighing...

"I didn't mean it that way..." he looked down the row of crypts...All silent in  
the midmorning sun...

Not a sign of habitation...Although Spike would've just settled in...And he was  
pretty experienced at covering his tracks...

"I wouldn't have let you come unless I trusted you...And I do..." he pleaded...

But all we have is his say-so...And some vague feeling on Buffy's part that  
he's not lying...

He resumed his pace down the row, peering into the first crypt on his left...

"It was more than a vague feeling, Xander...You saw her at the house last  
night...No matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise...She believes  
him..."

And she's had a connection to him since he came to this town...Especially after  
last year...

"And he's taken every advantage of it he could...An, he tried to rape her..."

"She said he stopped...And left...When he realized she meant no...And  
"tried"?...What pure monster would "try" to rape an injured Slayer?..." she  
noted...

Wrong...Sure...But a wrong any human might commit...Xander, this is a vampire  
who passed up a chance to kill his worst enemy when she was at his mercy...

And it was only after she pushed him away after being his lover for most of a  
year...

A year he spent time and time again trying to help her...She admitted that...In  
fact, it was more like she was pleading his case to us...

"Xander...Can you see Angelus doing something like that?...Or any vamp you've  
ever run into...?"

Answer me this...she paused...

"Why did you and Giles let him stay around Dawn after Buffy died...?"

"That was different...I told Buffy...We never forgot who or what he was..."

But you trusted him enough to take a risk, right?...You left Dawn with him,  
alone...Time after time...

All because you knew he loved Buffy...And wouldn't risk losing the chance of  
seeing her soul again...Someday, somehow...

He stopped...

"Giles..." he paused...

"Giles felt sorry for him after...Glory and all...When he cried for her..."

He told me...It was impossible...It couldn't be that a vampire demon could cry  
for a human...

Even the chip couldn't explain it...

There had to be...Something different at work here...

"Maybe...Even..."

Anya eyed him...

Sometimes...Giles told me...Sometimes the soul can fight its way back...For a  
moment...Say a mother killing herself just after transformation to save the  
kids...Or a lover just as they transform...

It's rare but...

But it's never happened to a century-plus old vamp...Not without magical  
aid...Like Angel's curse...Or an extra soul, like with Darla...

"Maybe...The chip gave William a window back into Spike..." Anya noted...

Just enough to let him love Buffy...Sense Cicely in her...And now, if this  
African story is true...

Xander shook his head...But...

"Xander, let me speak to him...If I sense only Spike in there...I'll gladly  
help you stake him...But, if there's any chance this story's true..."

He looked down, nodding...But...

"An...? If it is true...The whole deal...Why?..."

Why would Buffy...er this...Cicely?...Have driven him to Drusilla...?

"I can't...I won't believe the Buffy I know could be that cruel...Even in  
another life..."

Maybe there was a reason...she noted...

But first things first...Xander...she took his hand...

"Let me try...Please..."

He closed his eyes, leaning against a stone...And opened them...

"When Buffy was invisible..." he began...

I went to Spike's old place...Trying to find her...

She was there...I knew it, but I wouldn't let myself believe it...

She was all over him...Invisibly...

Happy to be with him...Hiding there from the rest of us...

And he covered for her...Never said a word...Not one gloat...

I blocked it out for weeks afterward...And since...  
Especially since...You know...We found out...

"I've told myself...It was the dying thing..."

Spike was dead...She'd been dead...She needed to find her way back...

And if she had to use him to come back to us at last...Well, ok...I could  
accept it...

Temporarily...

"But the thought...That she might...That this connection...Might last..."

I'd have rather seen her dead in the ground again...he nodded...

"He was there for her, you're right...We weren't...All this year...We dragged  
her back to save us...And couldn't help her...Couldn't even reach her...And the  
only one who could...Was a monster..."

And the worst of it is...he looked down...

I knew what was happening...And I went along with it...Hell, it was so much  
easier to sit back and let her slide downhill...She was here, after  
all...That's all we needed...The Slayer to save us...If she got involved with  
Spike, well...Heck, her problem...I had my own troubles, right?...

"Until I saw you with him...And it became my problem..."

Could it be true?...he stared at her...

Could Buffy be this Cicely?...Could Will have been...Be...Hers...?

"Slayers do reincarnate more than most folks..." Anya sighed...

Short lifespans, lots of unfinished business...

"Wish me to find him..." she stared at him...

But leave him to me...For now...

He paused...And nodded...

I wish...You'd find him...he told her...

And see if this damned story is true or no...

"Back soon..." she kissed him...  
And vanished...As he sighed and continued his walk...

Hell, a pretty place for a daytime walk...He never got to see these places by  
day...

Besides...If he caught one vamp in its crypt by day...It was worth losing a  
vacation day...

***

"So..." the principal beamed...Waving Buffy into the small room...

This will be your office...

Along with the other three work-study councilors, of course...he noted...

Right...she smiled...Four of us...In this room...

She looked around...Two desks, stuffed into the two ends of the room, barely  
leaving room for three chairs...

"Guess we gotta come up with one more chair for you guys..." the principal  
smiled...

But hey, you'll all be much too busy to hang around here anyway...

"Well...Have a seat...And let me get you the counselor's manual..." the  
principal beamed again...

Hmmn...Right, Buffy nodded brightly...Eyeing the peeling paint on one wall as  
she took a seat...

Geesh...Isn't this a brand new school building...? Built by our Xander no  
less?...

Still...Hellmouth...And school building...Peeling paint just kinda goes hand in  
hand...

Well, Xander did warn me never to buy more real estate in Sunnydale...

God...Why did Mom and Dad hafta buy in Sunnydale proper?...Why not good ole  
Crestwood...It's just five miles away...With normal Californian property  
values...And no Hellmouth...

I coulda commuted...Patrolled, saved the world, died and resurrected...And  
retained equity in my house...

"Here you go..." the principal smiled...Hefting a huge loose-leaf book to the  
desk in front of her...

Volume one...he noted...

I'll have Ms. Finders bring you the other five...

Great...Buffy nodded...

And...He pulled up a large box of files...

Here's your first case...

"This is...One case?..." she stared at the box...

He's had a few difficulties in junior high...the principal noted...

Read it through carefully...You see Jorge at nine-thirty...

"But...It's nine now..." she eyed the huge file...

Well...Just skim over the important papers for the first appointment...he  
smiled...

"After all...You'll be seeing a lot of Jorge..."

Right...Buffy smiled frozenly...Blinking a bit...

***

Deathwishes...Part V...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part V...

Nice plaques...Anya noted...Eyeing the various tributes in bronze to fallen family members...

She stood facing a sitting William...Who on her appearance had come out of the strange depression  
that seemed to grip him long enough to offer her a cushion for slab sitting and a glass of slightly  
warm...New fridge not yet acquired, he'd noted apologetically...Soda...Then resumed his seat and  
stare...

"Spike...?" she asked hesitantly...

Please...Do not call me that...he eyed her...

"Sorry...Will?..." she paused... "You do remember me, right?..." He'd clearly been startled when  
she'd materialized but he'd seemed to recognize her...

Anya...Vengeance demon of late...Harris' little...

Love Bunny...he grinned at her for the first time...

A boy's sweet grin...One she'd seen on his face only a few times...Including the time...

"Will...I realize this has been hard for you...But..." she couldn't help tapping her hands together in  
excitement...This was just too great...

"You've got your soul back...This is wonderful..."

Yeah?...he sighed at her...

I see Humanity didn't work out too well for you, dear heart...he noted, eyeing her...

"That was different..." she paused...

And well...Things aren't settled yet...

Not for me either...he noted quietly, looking away...

***

So...Buffy eyed Jorge, now sitting cramped in one of the three room chairs against the opposite  
desk...Her nine-thirty...

A large, somewhat hulking young sophomore of sullen aspect...

"You're Jorge?..."

"Brilliant..." he sneered at her...

You get all that by reading my file?...he eyed the huge, half-exploded file on her desk...Well,  
partially her desk...

"I'm Ms. Summers..." she smiled at him...Looking him over...

Unpressed clothes, obviously much washed...Unkempt hair...Bad skin...

He slouched as best he could in the tight chair, crushed against the desk...And gave her a similar  
once-over...

"I see from your file you had some trouble last year..." she noted...

Really?...he looked at the ceiling...

"Quite a lot of trouble..."

My, my...he sighed...

"But what surprised me is..." she paused...

"You made it to sophomore..."

How'd you manage that...? she eyed him...

With this record?...she glanced at the file...

He leaned forward, grinned, and motioned her over for a whisper...

"Screwed my guidance counselor..."

He sat back and started a laugh...As she caught him with a glare...That somehow made him pull up  
short on the hee-haw...

"It says you're good with computers and math...That you got by in part thanks to your "outstanding  
ability" in both..." she noted...

Are you any good?...she looked at him...

"Lady...I'm so good...In ten years you'll be begging for a crack at me..." he grinned...

You still gotta have that ole college diploma, Jorge...she smiled...

Microsoft and Sun don't take dropouts...

He gave another sullen glance...Still, not bad he had to admit...A definite improvement over last  
year's...

"Wanta prove to me you're as good as you think you are...?" she eyed him...

There's a computer free down the hall in the library...And I have something special I wanted to  
check on the Net...

"You get it for me...And today's session continues with you using the computer on your own for the  
rest of the hour..." she smiled at him...

***  
Will?...Anya stared at him...

"You must realize...This changes everything...You have your life back..."

He glared up at her from his seat...

"I'm living in a crypt...I can't even go out that door...!" he cried, pointing to the entrance...

I'm dead, you silly fool...!

Dead...And a mass murderer...he put his head in his hands...

"But then..." he raised his head and eyed her...

Maybe you could give me some pointers on dealing with that...

***  
Deathwishes...Part VI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Part VI...

Willow sat across from Giles at the table where they sat at the restaurant of the inn they'd  
chosen...In a town as to near the Council's...The Royal Council of Librarians and Library Scientists,  
known as the Council of Watchers to those in the know...archives building as they dared...

He was intently pouring over additional notes and records...Mostly lent to him at great personal...Or  
at least professional...risk by several old friends...All with long-standing favors called in...

He paused to look over at her...Her own pile of documents in front of her...On which, until a  
moment ago, she'd likewise been working steadily...

"Anything wrong, my dear?..." he looked at her...  
No...she shook her head...

Well...she immediately and sheepishly reversed herself...As he eyed her kindly...

"It's just...Giles...? All this time...?...We've been helping the Council do its dirty work?..."

At least the 1880 Council...she hastily noted...

"Keeping Buffy and Will apart...Maybe permanently if we'd destroyed him...And all the time...?"

We didn't know Willow...And William was in no condition to be reunited with Cicely...or Buffy...he  
sighed...

"But all these years..." Willow was near tears as she rescanned the batch of old letters...From  
William Soames Walthrop to his Cicely...Fragments of Cicely's personal journal...And notes taken  
on her by her own Watcher...Who had betrayed her in the end...

"Will's soul has been fighting to reach her...Hanging on, somehow...And none of us ever tried..."

There was no way to know that Willow...Giles patted her hand...

Giles...Willow shook her head...

"I knew he was different...Almost from the start...And after the chip..."

It was Amy all over again...I never made any real effort to help her until Tara left me and I was  
bored...

"I could have...I should have tried to save him...At least last summer...After all he did for Buffy and  
Dawn..."

But I was too busy...Trying to pull off my little resurrection stunt...she looked away, sadly...

"Willow...None of us tried to help William...Even after he tried to save Buffy...It never even  
occurred to us...So long as he wasn't a threat, we were all content to leave him as he was..."

But then...he went on...None of us ever tried to go beyond the curse for Angel...

"It has been a busy past couple of years, my dear..." he smiled, shaking his head...

And, honestly...How could we have guessed at this?...he indicated the two piles of notes and  
documents...

The Council could've...Willow noted bitterly...Some of them, I mean...she corrected hastily...

But the ones who knew must've been terrified of her finding out...Especially after she got so far  
beyond them...Even beat a God...  
Well...god...she grinned wanly at Giles...

Joke's on them...Unlike her insane little best friend, Buffy would've...Will...Probably thank them for  
any info they gave her...

Poor Buffy...Poor Cicely...she rubbed her face...Poor, poor Will...

God I thought Tara and I had it rough...she grinned though her tears...

"She didn't come back just because I called her...Or for us...Did she, Giles...?" Willow looked at  
him...

"When I came...Home..." Giles paused...

To save me...Willow added, gently taking his hand in hers...

"Buffy asked me...Why had she come back?...She felt there had to be a reason...Beyond just being  
there to protect Humanity...And Dawn...And all of us..." he put his chin on his folded hands...

She'd left someone behind...Willow noted...

The someone she'd reincarnated after a century to find...

"No wonder she was attracted to Angel..."

Cicely within was expecting to find a soul in or hovering around her vampire...she shook her head...

"Poor Angel...Just a case of mistaken identity..."

"On his part as well, my dear..." Giles noted...

Yeah...Willow nodded...Well...Buffy had blonde hair...And a noble soul...

Like his Darla...The human Darla the poor guy's searched for...At least subconsciously...All his  
existence...

Sure explains the brood...she grinned...

And why he never pushed to stay with Buffy...I never could quite buy all those different  
excuses...she eyed Giles...

"I think Will would have chosen to stay with her...Even without sex..." she grinned... "And even if it  
meant the Apocalypse began tomorrow..." she sighed...

Hell, he did choose to stay around...And has paid for it, watching Spike kill for a century...

"The demon god must have sensed William's presence...Influencing...Hovering...When he restored  
him..." Giles nodded...

"But...Why, Giles?..." Willow looked at Cicely's few surviving papers...

We saw her last letter to him...She loved him...Hell, if all's true, she's moved Heaven and Earth to  
find him...Almost literally...

Why did she agree to send him away?...

"Her Watcher...Farris...Was a clever and diabolical man..." Giles noted...

Bent on gaining power...World power...

And patient enough to lurk in the shadows...Quietly preparing his way to the Chairmanship...For  
years...

"And Cicely Addams was his prime tool..."

Somehow...Someway...Giles pondered...He tricked her into believing Will would be safer away  
from her...

Oh...God...Willow stared at him...As he blinked back...Both realizing...

Drusilla...

"That bastard had Drusilla waiting for him..." Willow shook her head...

***

"This is what you wanted?..." Jorge eyed the screen of the library computer, having called Buffy  
over...

This creep's picture...? he sneered at the image of a young, rather nervously solemn-looking  
William Soames Walthrop staring out at them...

Old class photographs from Cambridge University...Circa 1880...

Will...she touched the screen gently...

So...she smiled to herself...It's true...

He really was a Cambridge man...

"What...? He your great-great something or other...?" the boy eyed her...

Staring a bit at the tear running down her face...

"You...Ok?..." he hesitated...

Yeah...she grinned...

Oh, yeah...she wiped the tears...

Ummn...How's about one more search?...she eyed him...

A girl this time...

A Ms. Cicely Addams...Same year...Also English...

"You could try Cicely Addams Walthrop as well..." she looked at the screen...

***

Deathwishes...Part VII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Unless of course Uncle Joss...er, Mr. Whedon...Does use my Cicely-Buffy story line...

(Guess that makes 5 stories I'd have to change Cicely to Cecily in...Or is it 6, now?)

Part VII...

"So here I am..." William eyed Anya as they sat in his new crypt...

Soul boy...

40,000 plus murders to my credit...

"And...Best of all...It was the woman I loved who put me here..." he smiled at her...

Who came back...To play with me some more...  
Will...Anya looked at him...

"I don't know Cicely...I don't why she did what she did..."

But I know Buffy Summers...

"She loves you, Will..."

Ah...he grinned coldly at her...

"She tell you that, eh?..."

"She didn't have to...Will...If you had seen her last night...Talking about you and what happened  
for hours, calling Giles frantically at one am...Well, our time..."

"Well..." he eyed her...

"She told me she loved me in 1880 too..."

"You were...Married...?"

That's the usual reason a woman takes a man's name, dear heart...he nodded...

"An unfortunate mistake on her part, I guess...Which she rectified almost immediately...With a little  
help from poor ole Dru..."

He eyed her...Grinning coldly again...

She always did seem to go easy with my poor lamb...Gratitude, you think?...

Anya shook her head...Will...

"I loved her again as soon as the chip let me..." he paused...

I tried to save her...To be a man for her...

And did she see me?...Try to help me?...

"Will...She didn't know...She couldn't know..."

He looked at the plaques on the crypt wall...Beloved husband, beloved wife...

"In 1880 she used me...And when she was bored with me, sent me off..."

2002...Repeat process...

"Of course..." he smiled bitterly...  
Barely restrained demonic killer is a better excuse than bad poet/poor man...

"We don't know why she sent you away Will..." Anya hesitated...

What to say...Hell, from his pov he has excellent reasons to call on my services...

"Giles has been checking out your Cicely story... He called with some information this morning...He  
and Willow are...Or were...headed out to the Watchers' archives to get more..."

He looked at her carefully...Nodding...

The bloody Watchers' Council...? He thought...

And...? he asked, as casually as a human William-souled William the Bloody could...

"She was a Slayer, Will...A great one..."

He blinked at her...A Slayer?...

Well, it did make sense at that...

"Right..." he agreed coolly...

No wonder she wanted me out of her way...A bloody awful poet with no money is sure to put a  
crimp in a wealthy Slayer's style...

***

The tall, brown-haired...And quite elegantly dressed young man led William...Wearing his one  
barely passable grey suit...Over to the young woman waiting by the stairs...Smiling warmly at  
them...

Well, at good ole Henry, William thought...

As he gazed upon the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his largely miserable 21-odd years...

"And this..." Henry Foxcroft beamed at his young friend...

"Is my cousin...Miss Cicely Addams..."

He stared at her a moment, blinking, almost forgetting to take her outstretched hand...Offered  
somewhat less daintily than most of old Henry's female friends, he noted...

"Mr. William Soames Walthrop..." Henry smiled...

She stared at him...

"Mr. Walthrop?...Is something wrong?..."

Henry had warned her of his friend's slight discomfort in the social arena...Still...She hadn't  
expected...

Was he crying?...

But...Yes, the poor boy had lost someone...His mother, yes...Recently...she remembered...

Ummn...he wiped back the tear that had spilled out of one eye...

"Some smoke or something in my eye..." he explained...

Sorry...

"Not at all..." she shook her head...

Anya looked at William...As a tear ran down his face...

"I cried..." he paused, staring at the wall...

She was so beautiful...And I was just poor Caliban...Crying to dream again...

***

"Well, ok..." Buffy smiled at Jorge, as they sat, back in her office...

"You are pretty good...So what the hell are you wasting your chances for...?"

You anxious to wind up at Doublemeat Palace for the balance of your working life?...she frowned...

I can tell you, kid...That glamourous life you see going on behind the counter is just a facade...

He looked away...Rolling his eyes...

Then back...Unable to resist...

"How come you wanted all that stuff?..."

"Come back on time next week and I might tell you..." she grinned...

***

Dawn eyed her sis...Off in another world...

Geesh...she stared at her tray...

On the first day of high school...I put any potential social life in the toilet by eating lunch with her in  
this locker of an office...And this is the thanks I get...

"Hear anything from Giles yet?..." she tried, brightly...

Unt-uh...Buffy shook her head...

Not since this morning...

Hmmn...

"How's about Anya...?"

Not at the shop...Buffy replied briefly...Her mind elsewhere...

She stared at a couple of papers...Printouts from Jorge's searches...

"Records of our most wanted...?" Dawn grinned, trying to look from where she sat...

Unt-uh...

"Well..." she paused...

"I'm off to a good start...Homeroom teacher stripped naked and danced to "If You Want My  
Body..." first period..."

Uh-huh...

"Then I got killed by a vamp who must've slipped into the building last night...I just transformed by  
the way..."

"I thought you looked pale..." Buffy grinned at her a moment...

Sorry...she shook her head...And eyed her carefully...

"Dawn...I did some checking..."

There was a Cicely Addams...

She died as Cicely Addams Walthrop...In London...In 1880...

"And..." she pushed the printout of Will's class picture over...

There was a William Soames Walthrop...Cambridge University student...

Dawn blinked, staring at the printout...The solemn, nervous, but somehow even in that sea of  
confident, arrogant young British overlords of the Earth, outstanding...face of Will looking back in  
his best suit...

It's the kindness...In the eyes...she thought...And suddenly realized Buffy had just spoken the same  
thought aloud...

'Course he also looked preety ridiculous in that crowd...With that suit and hair...she noted, smiling...

"He was very poor, Dawn..." Buffy said quietly...

It was a terrible struggle for him to get so far...You can't imagine what poverty was like back then...

Dawn stared...

Buffy nodded...Yeah...

"I'm beginning to remember..."

***  
"Miss Addams..." the slender young man nodded at her...An annoyed look on his face...

William...? Yes, that was it...William...

She frowned a bit...The household footmen Smike and Squears who had been lounging out on the  
back portico with Henry's "friend" eyed her...She repeated a thinly veiled "suggestion" that they  
resume their duties...

The two got up...Smike in an especially impudent mood...

"Well...Be seeing you, mate...Maybe we'll stop by at that..." Smike cast a brief leer at Miss  
Addams...

"480 Merriweather St...Thursday night at eight..." Walthrop replied...

See you there mates...

The two sauntered back inside...Cicely glared at them...

She'd also caught the tail end of Mr. Walthrop's little performance...As she had come in to see about  
Henry's little guest...And where those two lazy oafs had gotten off to...

As the strutting Miss Addams...

Regally bowing to all and sundry as she made her little procession...Accepting the natural adoration  
of her male peers...Awaiting the doffing of caps and the bowing and scraping of her inferiors...

"Ah...Mr...er...Pardonnez-moi while my maid fetches my opera glasses so I might have a look at  
you...Ah...yes..." In high falsetto voice Walthrop had thrown his head back and looked down his  
nose...A rather good imitation at that... "Mr...Wal...trop?..."

Much to Smike and Squears' amusement, obviously...

She turned back to little Walthrop...Barely taller than she, she amusedly noted...

If rather beautiful eyes...Staring deep into one...

The people cousin Henry takes under his wing...Still...dear Henry did admire the little...

A bit of a rough diamond he'd called him...But...A true and worthy friend...With a bright future...

And anyone admired by Henry Alexander Foxcroft was usually worthy...she had to admit...

"Fomenting revolution in our household, Mr...Walthrop?..." she unconsciously had thrown her  
head back and looked down her nose at him...

"We were just talking, Miss Addams...I wanted to hear about their lives..."

"And encourage them to attend some meeting of radicals?..."

He eyed her...Truculent but a bit off balance...Had she heard his little performance?...

Hardly radicals, Miss Addams...Just a meeting of students, thinkers, and workingmen and -women...

"Socialists?...Communists?...Or just Anarchists?..." she smiled at him...

Amazed she knew there was a difference he thought, looking at her sourly...

"Even the dogs in the street have a right to meet occasionally Miss Addams...And try to better their  
lives a little..." he replied coldly...

"I see...And is making fun of us...My cousin who's been so kind to you...And me...In front of our  
staff...Another right of the "dogs in the street"...?" she asked...Sweetly...Turning to glaring stone at  
the end...

Self-righteous little...If I could have him on the receiving end of my stake one night for thirty  
seconds...she thought...I'd teach him a lesson or two about making snap judgments of people...

Quite a glare there...Walthrop noted to himself...

But was angry in a moment...Thankfully angry...Considering how she'd thrown him off balance,  
putting him in the wrong...

Not to mention...Well...He still wasn't used to dealing with women like this...

Especially wondrously beautiful women like this...  
"I wasn't making fun of...Your cousin..." Walthrop paused...Eyeing her...

Henry is my friend...I don't make fun of my friends...Even if they are rather of the "toff"  
persuasion...

He's a good sort...And can't help the inbred toff in his bones...

"I see..." she eyed him coldly...So...

"Miss Summers...?"

And Miss Summers...? the principal smiled at them...Leaning into the office...

"Miss Summers...Your 12:15 is waiting for you in classroom 113...I understand she breaks things  
when people let her down..."

"Dawn...Aren't you due back in homeroom now?..." he eyed her...

That was just about all I remembered of it for now anyway...I'll tell you more later...Buffy hissed as  
they hurried out...

"Do so, Miss Addams..." Dawn hissed back, in a rather good high-pitched British accent...

***

Deathwishes...Part VIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Unless of course Uncle Joss...er, Mr. Whedon...Does use my Cicely-Buffy story line...

(Guess that makes 5 stories I'd have to change Cicely to Cecily in...Or is it 6, now?)

Part VIII...

"So...?" Warren eyed Amy...  
Sitting in the living room of her new apartment, rented after she'd recovered what little she could  
from what her mother had left her, following three years of her few remaining family members'  
grabbing what they could...

All of whom had made themselves unavailable...Distant and forgotten aunts, uncles, and cousins for  
the most part anyway...With the exception of her father who'd likewise preferred to remain  
incommunicado...After securing his share, of course...

She stood, regarding him...He'd lost weight in the past months on the lam...Not surprising...

Hard to stop and sit down to a meal with the thought of avenging super-Willow on your tail...

"Want something to eat?..." she asked...Coolly but just the faintest hint...Of eagerness...

First date in three years, four months...First person over since she got the place...

"Yeah...Sure...But, can we dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business?..." he frowned...

I still think this was a crazy idea...Bringing me back to Sunnydale...

"Willow's friends are here...The Hellmouth is here..." Amy noted...

Your "nemesis" Buffy is here...she grinned...

"I've moved on, lady..." Warren sighed...

I got more important matters on my mind these days...

Namely...Not meeting my "nemesis" or her insane friend ever again...

"Willow will find out you're alive one of these days...

Amy pointed out...

She'll feel it...And even though she's gotten herself back under control...She and the others won't  
stop until you're in prison, at the very least...

"The only way for you to be safe...Is to help me destroy them all..."

So...? he glared at her...

"Destroy them...All...Already..."

Cast a spell and put 'em six feet under...End of story...

"I'm not quite that good...And they've got some protections...Besides Willow would sense an attack  
like that...She'd target in on us in a moment..."

No...Amy shook her head...We've gotta do this the non-magics way...At least non-direct magics  
way...And use others who can't be traced to us...

"Oh...And after six years of trying to kill the Slayer and her little friends in every possible  
way...Someone is just gonna accept our offer and take them out...Without implicating us..."

Not any someone...Amy smiled...Coldly...

Buffy is going to do it...

Warren blinked at her...Buffy?...

A buzzer went off...

"My chicken...Grab a chair and I'll bring the things over..."

Warren...she smiled...

A leetle nervously now...First date in so long, after all...

"Look...er Will..." Xander paused, eyeing the vampire as he paced the ground level of his new  
crypt...

Anya off to the Magic Box to collect what she could to help make the place somewhat livable...

"I realize you've had some tough breaks...But...You've gotta try and deal..."

Will stopped and stared at him...

"Didn't you come out here to kill me, Harris?..."

Spike...Xander replied...

I came looking for Spike...

Probably to try and kill him...he agreed...Definitely to drive him away...

"And on dear Anya's say-so...You're ready to chance that I'm telling the truth?..."

I did...I would...Xander nodded...

"But I also have confirmation from Giles and Willow in England thanks to An's call from the  
shop..."

And I'm not in the habit of killing the human-souled...Even vamps...

"At least not when I've given my promise not to...To the vengeance demon I love..."  
"Jesus...?...How did I manage to fail against you idiots all these years?..." Will angrily shook his  
head...

I'd guess...Xander sighed a moment, then smiled...You didn't fail, William...

"Probably you're the reason Buffy didn't die last year when Spike could've taken her...And why  
Spike never took Dawny...Or Joyce..."

Will glared at him...And continued his pace for a moment...Then halted by a plaque dedicated to  
someone's century dead infant son...

"Don't sentimentalize me, Harris...I did nothing...I never stopped Spike from killing...Not once..."  
he stared at a grim and blank crypt wall...

Not one bloody f-ing time...he sighed...Putting his head against the wall...

No...Xander agreed...

You couldn't ...Will...No one could stop their demon...

I couldn't even slow my jackal spirit down...

"But somehow you gave Spike a human edge...Made him care about the world...About Joyce and  
Dawn...And when the chip appeared..."

Well...he grinned...

Lets just say...I never saw Angelus ever care about any human...Outside of wondering how they'd  
hold up under his torments...

"Believe me, Will..." Xander eyed him...

I am not crazy about this changed situation...

It was a hell of a lot easier this morning when all I had on my plate was to get rid of you...One way  
or another...

And all this...Cicely business...Does not help...

"But we're stuck...And a lot of moaning isn't gonna change things..."

"Spike isn't dead, Xander..." Will noted...

He's right here...Waiting in me...Hoping for his chance...

"Really?..." Xander grinned...

"Well, then...Welcome to Humanity, Will Walthrop..."

Will...he gestured with his hands in front of him...If all this is true...You fought Spike for a  
century...Without help, alone...

I'm no expert...But I know...This does not happen often...If ever...Unless a gypsy curse or a fiendish  
LA law firm or maybe a power-crazed Wiccan is involved...

"You forgot a power-crazed division of the US government..." Will grinned wanly a mo...

Nah...You had their help...Xander grinned back...

But...

"Are you gonna give up now?...When you've won?...Beaten him back?...Maybe for good if you can  
hold out..."

When you have us...And...

Cicely, maybe...To help you...?

"Jesus, Harris...Is this how you stopped Red?...A football pep talk?..."

"Well...Like hell am I gonna tell you I'll still love you no matter what you did..." Xander smiled...

I'll leave that for (Well, first goddamned time for everything, he thought, sighing...)...

Your wife...

William stared at him...

And Will...?

"I still will kill you if you hurt her..."

Anya materialized...Bearing a box...

She looked at the two...Will looking at Xander oddly...

"Is everything...Ok?..." she asked anxiously...

Yeah...Xander nodded...

"I've just been spelling out the ground rules for him..." he noted...

Xander...Anya looked at him...

No, no...Will patted her shoulder...

"It's what a good brother-in-law does, dear heart..." he grinned over at a suddenly blinking Xander...

***

"Of course...You shouldn't get any ideas from this..." Amy eyed Warren...

Right...he nodded...

I'm lonely...Not crazy...she noted...

Rolling over to eye him carefully as they lay in bed...

Absolutely...he agreed...

"And I've protected myself...In case you get any ideas about playing with my mind...No love  
spell...Or "cerebral depressor" is gonna work on me, Mears..."

Hey...If you weren't any good at magics...I'd be fried muscle boy right now...he grinned at her...

Daddy has still got it...He thought...

Nothing I like better than a really needy type...A beautiful needy type...

A powerful, beautiful needy type...

Still...It was...Nice...

Like when things with Kat started out...

Before Buffy ruined everything, butting in...

Hmmn...Buffy...?

"Before...Things moved along...?" he eyed Amy...

You said...Buffy would take care of her friends for us...

"Yeah..." Amy nodded...

"Well...?" he looked at her...

Warren...she sighed...

Buffy Summers is a Vampire Slayer...A great one...

But even the greatest Slayer is bound to have one bad day...

"And all we gotta do...Is ensure that she has a very bad day..."

And never knows we were the cause...

***

Deathwishes...Part IX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 1  
first to be sure...

Part IX...

Cicely frowned and looked at the little Mr. Walthrop...Back again for another round...

Under his usual guise of an engagement with dear Henry...

But who had now decided to terminate today's increasingly angry discussion...

She having accused him of being a rather classic example of a self-righteous, self-proclaimed  
working class hero...

An intellectual snot...Who'd probably never seen the inside of a factory...Walthrop choking,  
remembering his years slaving in the Brusset bottle works...

While he had noted her unfortunate "priggish" tendencies...Questioning as to whether she had ever  
known anyone or thing outside her little circle of fellow prigs...

A conversation she was as always...Rather enjoying...

"My cousin will be expecting to find you here, Mr. Walthrop..." she glared at him...

Oh...Don't go...she thought...

You ungrateful little...

"Please tell Henry I'll be back later..." he stubbornly replied...Turning away from her...And moving  
rather swiftly to the door of the back garden...

"Where are you going?...Henry will be coming in a few moments..." she called...

Uhhh...He mumbled, fumbling with the door...

"Mr. Walthrop!...Stop!..." Cicely cried to him in a startlingly loud voice...

He halted, staring back at her...

"I am talking to you!...Where...Are...You...Going?..."

In five words or less...Sir...she frowned...

Five words, eh...? Walthrop glared back...

"Out...For...A ..." he began...

Dawn blinked at her sis...As they walked toward the Magic Box...Where, hopefully, new info from  
England awaited them...

"What did you...er Cicely...Do?..."

I think I leapt across the garden and hit him so hard he nearly flew out of his shoes...Buffy  
pondered...

"It's still all a little hazy..."

Guess it's no wonder now why my little debates with Spike always seemed so familiar...she  
sheepishly noted...

***  
"I can't say I think much of this idea, Warren..." Amy sighed at her partner as they stood outside  
one of Sunnydale's most notorious demon-frequented bars...Fortunately, far from the areas the  
Slayer and co normally ventured in daytime...

We need back-up, right?...he eyed her...

Demons hate the Slayer, right?...

Logic therefore dictates...

"I may not be able to protect us..." she noted...

If "logic" fails to work with them...  
"Trust me, bab...er Amy..." he corrected hastily...

I've dealt with these types many a time...

Right...Amy rolled her eyes...

But followed him in...

It was a little brave of him she couldn't help noting to herself...

All she had now, after all...

***

"Can't we just send this stuff to Buffy...?" Willow eyed Giles...As they sat in at the Heathrow  
airport terminal...Her carefully packed box of Cicely letters and journals beside her...

I'm not sure if I'm ready to face the guys...she noted sadly...

Or leave you...she did not say, staring at him...

"Willow, wherever the information here is to lead Buffy...Whether to her past, to her William. or  
wherever it takes...Eventually she is going to need her best friend to help her deal with the  
consequences of facing Cicely..."

She'll need her Watcher more than her...Former...Best friend...Willow sighed...

"If Buffy needs my help, I'm always here for her..."

And for you, my girl...he patted her...

"But this is something you must face on your own...Just as she essentially must face Cicely,  
William, and the past on her own..."

All we can do is be ready to help...And you are the one who lives in Sunnydale...Who has a life there  
to return to...

"Even if Buffy and the others can't accept you back in the old way, Willow...Your life is there...And  
you have a family waiting for you...Though you may have nearly forgotten them in the last couple  
of years..." he smiled...

"I do miss my parents...I haven't been much of a daughter these past few..." she noted, nodding...

Guess I got a lot of fence mending to do all around...she sighed...

Well...You know what they say, Willow...Giles smiled gently...

"Home is the place where when you come...They have to take you in..."

"I love you, Rupert..." she hugged him...

And pulled back to eye him firmly...

I don't mean...Little Willow loves her teacher...

"I know that..." Giles nodded...

And all the better reason for you to go home...And work things out...

"But...Will you think of me?..." she pleaded...Taking his hands...

Not as another daughter...Like Buf...

"I will think of you...Every day, my Willow..." he kissed her gently...

But this is something for us to discuss later...Much later, when you have your life put to rights...

Yeah...she sighed, nodding...And grinned an old Willowian grin...

"Buffy and Will...Married...I still can't believe it Giles..."

Well...Cicely may have been a very different person than our Buffy, my dear...

"Best to bear that in mind...Especially as Cicely surfaces in her..."

"I will...Goodbye...Rupert..." she kissed him and headed off to her gate...

"Not that much later...!..." she called, halting just before the security barrier...

He stared carefully back, waving...

"So fellas...That's the deal...We...My Wiccan friend and I...Are taking on the Slayer..." Warren  
announced...

And we're here to offer you the chance for a crack at revenge...

The chance to make her...One of your own...

"So..." he eyed the group...A motley crew of the dregs of demonkind at the best of times...And these  
were not the best of times...

Who's with us...

"F-you, human..." one hog-faced demon called...

"Take the witch, eat the little bastard..." another called...

Ummn...Warren nervously grinned at the demons...

One...Now two...Rising ominously...

Amy moved into a protective position...Desperately running through every defense spell she could  
think of...

But then...

Suddenly, bizarrely, Warren burst into song...Some kind of march, a startled Amy realized...

In German...Of a kind...With the words hideously mangled...But a few barely intelligible...

"Panzer...something, something...Panzer troops cutting through...Something, something..." he  
banged his heels down hard on the floor as he sang, eyeing the group...

The demons stared for a moment at him and each other...Then, one fellow, far in the rear of the bar,  
stood and joined in, filling in the German Warren was murdering...  
**Play**

("Panzerlied..." translation, of course)...

"In blizzard or storm,  
Or in sun warm and bright,  
The day hot as hell  
Or bone-chilling be the night,  
Our faces may with dust be laid,  
But spirits never fade,  
No, never fade;  
Relentless, our tank  
Thunders out on a raid."

Others began rising, joining in...Banging horned heels on the floor...

"With engines a-howling,  
Fast as is the wind,  
We head for the foe,  
Safe, as we're in armor skinned."  
  
Soon the whole bar was on its feet...Including the few drunken humans...All singing and banging  
heels in rhythm...More or less...

**"Our comrades still behind us roam;  
We fight the foe alone,  
Yes, fight alone.  
We stab through the line  
To break the foes backbone.**(Oh, Ja!)**  
Whenever the foe  
May appear in our sight,  
We'll ram throttle full,**(several demons getting weepy)  
Then we'll humble all his might!  
Of what use is our life if we  
Our country serve freely?  
Yes, serve freely!  
To die for our country,  
Our honour shall be."

Yeah!...Warren raised a fist...We're gonna take the bitch at last!...he called...And resumed his  
song...Mostly mumbling now as the Germanic demon roared the lyrics...And the others joined in the  
chorus...Shaking the whole building...

Amy stared...Holy...

"Warren?..." she hissed...

What the hell are you singing?...

God knows...he hissed back as he continued...Saw a Nazi colonel singing it when he wanted to rally  
his troops in "Battle of the Bulge" last night on TV...

I figured...Couldn't hurt...Some of these guys must've been Nazis in their human lives...

"With tank traps and mines,  
Our foe tries to impede.  
We laugh at his ruses;  
We know he'll not suceed.(She'll not!...Warren tries, catching a bit of the German...)  
And when, in threat, his cannons stand,  
Half hidden in the sand,  
Yes, in the sand,  
We can find our way  
Over much safer land.

And should at long last,  
Fickle Lady Luck leave,  
And we remain here,  
Leaving family to grieve,  
A bullet with our name on it,(I still have mine...One fellow noted contentedly)  
Find us and seal our fate,  
Yes, seal our fate,  
Our tank will our grave be  
On that final date."

"Well, young man..." the older demon who'd been the first to join in his battle song came up...

That was very inspiring...Reminded me of the old days back with the 6th SSDeath's Head Brigade...

"But you're not gonna join up either...?" Warren sighed...

All the others having politely refused to sign on to the latest crazy "we're gonna get the Slayer"  
scheme...Especially under human leadership...

Though they appreciated the little human fool's can-do attitude...And were behind him and his  
magical friend 100%...In spirit...

Experience (especially the past six years) having provided them with a realistic pov when it came to  
down to action...

"Well..." the tall and gnarled figure paused...Large scales on his cheeks moving to reveal oozing  
glands with each breath...

Your idea has merit...To make the Slayer one of our own...

"But many have tried..."

Besides...he noted...Even if you succeed, a former Slayer is likely to be a very ambitious  
vampire...With a will to rule over all of us...

"Can't say as that would necessarily be a major improvement in my existence..." he smiled...

She won't be hunting you anymore...Less you piss her off...Warren replied...

That's one hell of a big improvement...

"And my friend here..." he indicated Amy... "Will be able to keep her in line..."

Warren...? Amy stared...

All I said was...I think I can keep her from killing us...At least tone down our appeal as dinner  
items...she thought...

The risks...For all of us...Will be minimal...Warren insisted...

"And with Buffy the Vampire on our side, Sunnydale will be at the mercy of anyone with the guts to  
take it..."

Namely...Us...he waved to include Amy and their companion...

With plenty of rewards and goodies to distribute to all...

Gotta admit...He has ambition...Amy noted to herself, eyeing her partner...

The old demon eyed them...Well, hell...A boring existence these days anyway...And it was nice to  
find someone with a little of that ole determined-to-get-the-Slayer spirit...

So many simply accepted the status quo these days...

And he could always eat them later if things went wrong...Maybe even if things went well...

"What would you need from me...And any friends I might persuade to join in one last campaign...?"

***

Deathwishes...Part X...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part X...

Thank God for teleportation...Anya noted as she returned once again to the shop...Just in time to  
catch a couple of teenaged girls...Comez demons in disguise...Attempting to walk off with several  
reasonably valuable items...

Not that I wouldn't trade it gladly she noted to herself...For good ole footpower...If Xander and I  
ever straighten things out...

"Guys..." she assumed working face...

"Put 'em back..." she coldly ordered in a booming voice...

The demons eyed each other...And grumbling, returned the stolen bits...

Out...she pointed, again with booming voice...

Wow...A human customer, browsing, stared at her...

Neat...Can I get one of those morphing masks...?

"Sorry..." Anya, back to human face, sighed, reluctantly...

Specialized make-up technique...Not for sale...

She looked over at the chiming door...Buffy, with Dawn...

"Anya!..." Buffy called, waving...

She rushed over...At Slayer speed...Dawn staring...

Ummn...Buffy paused...Trying to recover a little poise...

"Any more news?...From England...?...Or..." she looked around the shop...Several humans...

"Anywhere?..."

Just a sec...Anya raised a hand, turning to answer a customer's question...

Not that she didn't still set a high priority on love of the true persuasion...But hey...Working here...

Buffy fidgeting...

Wait a minute...she looked round again...As Dawn came up...

"Where's Xander?..." she asked nervously...

Oh my God...Dawn thought...Looking for him as well...

Much as I don't want sis hurt again...

If by the slightest chance all of this crazy Cicely stuff is true...

And Will is my...(Gulp)...Can't say it, won't say it...Yet...

"Anya?..." Buffy pleaded...

"So...You stupid sot..." William eyed Xander as they stood, now on the lower level of the  
crypt...Xander engaged in doing a little electrical work...

May as well try to do it according to code standards this time...Spike's old place had been an  
electrical disaster waiting to happen...

"You still haven't patched up things with that poor kid yet?..."

"I'm working on it..." Xander replied...

Hell...Harris...

Xander glared at him...

"I don't need love advice from William the Bloody, even in human-souled form...thanks..."

Xander...A girl like Anya comes around once...Will grinned...

In a millennium...

"We're working on it...I'll deal with it..."

She...Will paused...Staring at him...

She's not evil, Harris...In fact, I've never seen a demon so unevil...

"I never said she was..." Xander focused on the wiring in front of him...

Let me work, Will...One thing An doesn't need is me...fried...

Much as she may have wished it the first coupla days...

Will frowned at him but held off pursuing the matter...

"Hand me that pair of pliers...The insulated one...Right..." Xander took the pliers and continued his  
work...

"What happened, Will?" he asked...

William looked round...

"Not a thing so far...Should the telly be on?..."

I mean...Xander twisted a pair of wires together, straining a mo...

"Between you and Cicely..."

Ah...

"I met her...We fell in love, or so I thought...She asked me to marry her...She decided that was a  
rippin' mistake...She chased me off..."

Why...? Xander looked at him...Pulling on several other wires...The tape there, please...

"God knows..." he passed the electrical tape over... "My looks...The bad poetry...My lack of the  
social graces...The dire poverty..."

Maybe it was that time of the month...

Guess the real question was...Why did she marry me in the first place?...Will noted...

"She married you..." Xander eyed him thoughtfully...

Yeah...Happened a lot, actually...Even in my day...Just didn't get mentioned that often in the social  
history books...

"She was a Slayer...Don't you think, well...She might have had a good reason?..."

As in...? She didn't want little Walthrop in her way?...Once she'd had a chance to think things  
over...Will frowned...

"Walthrop?...That's your name?..."

William Soames Walthrop...Most pleased to meet you, sir...he nodded formally, grinning...

"I'm sorry..." Xander paused...

I should've asked before...

"I wasn't William Soames Walthrop before..." Will noted...

***

"You're sure...?" Buffy eyed Anya...Asking for the fourth time...

Dawn nervously in support...

He isn't going to hurt him, Buffy...He promised me...Anya replied...Looking reassuringly at both  
sisters...

"And Alexander L. Harris is a man of his word..."

Outside lifelong commitments...she sadly noted...

"Well..." Buffy pondered...

"I should get over there in any case..."

Just to see if he needs anything...she hastily added...Noting Anya's slight glare at the potential  
casting of aspersion on the value her ex?'s pledge...

"Buffy..." Dawn groaned...

You can't just go running over there...We can't be sure of him yet...  
"Oh sure you can..." Anya shook her head...

I saw his soul just fine...And Giles confirmed that his African demon god was powerful enough to do  
it...

"Plus he and Willow say the Cicely story is true...She definitely knew him as Walthrop, married  
him...And was a Slayer..."

"We know..." Buffy nodded...As several new customers entered...Two demons among them, Anya  
noted to herself...

We did some checking on the high school library computer...

Great...Anya smiled and turned to deal with her customers...

Demons...No doubt without cash she sighed inwardly...And with sticky fingers...

Especially this species...

"Anya...?" Buffy halted her...Grabbing at her right arm...

"You saw it?...His soul...?"

"Yeah..." she looked at Buffy's face...So many emotions flickering across...

It's a beautiful soul, Buffy...she smiled kindly...

"Yeah..." Buffy nodded... Glancing at Dawn...

It always was...

***

Amelia and Philip...William sighed...

"My brother and sister..." he shook his head, looking at Xander as they sat in the lower level of the  
new crypt...

God...Xander, what happened to them after I died...? They had no one...he put his hands to his  
forehead rubbing...Trying to hold back all the thoughts tearing at him...

"Thank God Mum died the year before...Thank God...If she had lived...And learned what had  
happened..."

Xander stared at him...Is this the "thing" I've hated all these years...?

The monster I could see digging his claws into my Buffy's soul...My "sister" Buffy...  
But even I had moments...When something he did...Something he said...Made him too human to  
kill...

Almost a friend...Almost...

A brother-in-law?...

And all of it...Just the fragments of Will that got through...

But then...My "sis" would only have married someone special...

"I'm sorry Will...I wish I could say the right thing..."

He thought a moment...

"Maybe...Somehow we could check records from back then...See what happened..."

Willow could do it...When she gets home...

If she comes home...he thought...

Though...Sometimes...he paused...

"Sometimes it's best not to know..."

Will nodded...But...

"I have to know...What I left behind..."

***  
Willow watched the clouds floating by as her plane cruised over the Atlantic...

All life...Giles had told her...On that day...That special day...When he'd told her the truth about what  
had happened to Glory's human counterpart, Ben...And in showing her the darkness within him, had  
showed her that the darkness could co-exist with the light...Even be controlled by the light and  
enlisted for brief periods in its service...

All life has a deathwish wrapped inside...

It's inevitable after all...he'd told her...

All living things die...In time...

Even most Undead things cease to be...

And so...For all living things, all life...Especially intelligent, rational life...There is the temptation to  
get it all...Over with...  
To end the tedium...Or the torture...Or the sorrow and loneliness...And move on...To the Eternal,  
hopefully...

And the harder the living...The stronger the wish...Or at least, the more the wish comes to the  
surface...

Making it no wonder a demon run largely by instinct, like many vamps...Would generally be  
inclined to accept and fight for its long existence...No or little ability to control its actions, no  
responsibility...Easier existence...Weaker deathwish...

Whereas humans...Or human-souled creatures...Had the burden of responsibility for their  
actions...And a stronger deathwish hidden within by consequence...

And the greater the scope for action...The greater the responsibility...The greater deathwish...

Angelus being the best example of all...Terrified by his years as Angel...The hideous burdens and  
responsibility...He'd preferred to try and destroy the world rather than risk the chance of having to  
one day resume those burdens...

The trick...Is to remember that death is...Usually, he'd smiled at her...

A one way ticket...With no travel reporting, no guidebook, no previews...And no known way to  
change course once underway...

While life, however, hopeless it may seem...Offers an infinite diversity of possible options and  
rewards...If one has the courage to take new paths...Or re-explore old ones...

And just as Buffy had slowly, painfully overcome her deathwish of the past year...Perhaps triggered  
not so much by her own death and resurrection as by her despair and fear after her mother's death  
and with the feeling of hardness she'd sensed overwhelming her before the Glory battle...So she,  
Willow...And now newly souled William...Must overcome their natural deathwishes...And seek for  
paths old and new that would keep the knowledge that life is a precious, transient wonder worth  
experiencing before them...

We're so lucky...William and I...Willow thought...Each with a second chance at life...If we can bear  
the burdens...

Are you there, my Tara?...she eyed the clouds...

Rest now...And I will see you again...I have that chance again as well, which I nearly threw  
away...Thanks to Xander and Giles and Buffy...

But I will try life for now...And see what paths open for me...

After all, William endured a century of horror to begin finding his way home...The least I can do is  
try...

***

Deathwishes...Part XI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite  
Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XI...

Things are humming along...Warren noted happily to his Wiccan partner as they finalized their  
plans for the coming rematch with his "nemesis" at Amy's apartment...

Or rather, as she did her research and he wandered about, trying to get his two cents' worth  
in...Generally just getting in her way...

Something of a comedown for the former Fearless Leader of the Trio...

She regarded him dryly...Humming along?...

"Warren, sit down...I gotta concentrate on these protective spells...Unless you want Sunnydale's new  
vamp queen to eat you first...?"

He frowned...Once I gave the orders, girly...he thought...

And one day...After we deal with the Slayer...

"You not happy with the current situation, Mearsy...?" she asked him quietly...

He stared at her...She eyed him coolly, clearly reading every thought...

Quite a girl, he found himself thinking...In spite of himself...

"Hey...I'm just trying to show a little enthusiasm for the operation, lady...That I'm with your  
program...Whatever the hell it is, exactly..."

Lets not forget I was the one with doubts at first...he noted...Taking a seat...

And that I've gone along blind on most of this...

"In exchange for my saving your miserable life...And giving you some damned good sex..." she  
replied...

And a preety nice chicken dinner...he grinned at her, catching her by surprise now...

She couldn't keep a smile off her face...For just a mo...Then wiped it...

"As for not letting you in on the details...You already know the basic plan...It's simple..."

We use your knowledge of Buffy and her habits on Patrol to give our friends a decent crack at her...

When the time is right...We intervene, staying hidden...To provide that bit of extra brain power the  
vamps and demons here always seem to lack...

And Buffy finally has a very bad day...

Then, at the scene...While we wait for the new Buffy to wake up...We use my spells to protect  
ourselves against her...

She does the rest...

"And later...When she's "done the rest"...Taken the others out...We step forward...And when she  
realizes she can't harm us...New vamp Buffy will have to deal..." Warren nodded...

A whole new Trio...Definitely superior to the old from his pov...

Maybe she'll deal...Amy looked at him...

Maybe not...she looked away...

He blinked...

Maybe...Not?...

"Can't you make sure she's in a receptive frame of mind?...Hell, if I had my cerebral depressor  
handy..."

This will be her demon, Warren...That toy won't work on her...At least not for long...

She'd just be that much more anxious to kill us...Even if she couldn't do it her own way...

"Kill us?...But you said..."

If my spells work...She won't be able to kill us the "normal" vamp way...Amy explained...

That doesn't mean she couldn't find a way...If she doesn't decide we're more useful to her alive...

He stared at her...What the hell are you getting me into?...his look clearly saying...

"Then...What's the point?...If we can't be sure she'll be on our side..."

The point...Amy patiently noted...Is that she'll take the others out...Without any track leading to us...

She'll kill her friends...Her little family...Maybe turn them as well...

And when Willow comes home...She will feel...What I felt...

Not just losing her honey this time...

Losing everyone she cares about...Losing all the things that made her Willow...Cause even if vamp  
Buffy doesn't go after all of them herself, the survivors will all try to stop or save her...

Especially when we see that they learn what's happened to her...

"And she'll take Willow for us too, right?..." Warren asked nervously...

I don't know...Depends on how much Willow wants to die, really...Amy smiled at him...

Though you better pray she doesn't get turned and retains her magics ability...she noted...

"But...If Willow is so powerful...Won't she stop our little Queen of the Damned...? Before she starts  
her killing spree...?"

"She might...If she were here...But she has to get here to be able to do that..."

And how do you know she isn't on her way right now?...Warren looked at her...

"She is on her way...Right now..." Amy grinned...

Jesus...he blinked at her...

"And you were gonna tell me...When?..." he glared at her...Rising angrily...

Damn it!...he hollered...

"Do you know what she'll do to me if she catches me now?...And if she finds out what we're up  
to...?"

She gave him a grim little smile...He clenched his fists...

"And if you think I'm gonna let her take me!...And not you too!..." he paused...

I know you'd turn me over to her in a second...Amy nodded...Still smiling...

He calmed down...Ok...Obviously she either had something else up her sleeve...

Or she was one crazy witch-bitch...

Probably both...he realized...

"So..." he sat down again...

"Are we just gonna go ahead...With super-witch on her way...?"

We're gonna go ahead...Amy nodded...But Willow is gonna be delayed...

"Oh..." he smiled a little, looking at her...

"So you have got something...?"

What did you do?...he grinned...

"Not a thing..." Amy beamed... "Outside keeping a listen on her phone calls and emails home to  
friends and family..."

What...? the red started to color up his face again...

"Willow's mom...And Buffy's old Watcher did it for me...For us..."

He called her...Amy explained...And suggested she meet Willow in NYC...To give Mom and her  
little girl a chance to catch up before her poor, troubled kid got back to the old college whirl and  
all...

"Willow's such a fool to have thrown her mother away like she has, you know Warren...?" Amy  
sighed...

I mean...A mom who loved her...And she's just ignored her...

It's a terrible thing to do...If you're lucky enough to have parents and family who love you...

I sure oughta know about that...she smiled wanly...

"But maybe they'll patch things up a bit while they're together in New York for a few days..."

Giving us our chance...If our new friends come through and we move quick...

He nodded...But...

"Lemme ask you something, Amy?..."  
You don't expect to win this one, do you?...he eyed her...

I mean...Willow will come home with dear Mommie after her week in New York and find Buffy's  
killed everyone she could get her little fangs into...

And Willow will stop her...And sooner or later, find us...

Amy smiled at him...Rising and moving over to a desk against the far wall...

"Well...Warren, with your skills, including that diplomatic nature of yours...I'm sure we'll form a  
working unholy alliance with demon Buffy...And sweep all before us...Including Willow..."

But...If we don't...

I'll settle for making Willow suffer...Even if she does get to keep Mommie and Daddie...

He rolled his eyes...Yep, crazy as a wiccan loon...

Why do I always get these types latching on to me...?

"See this Warren...?" she pulled out a document from the desk ...

"My dad had me declared legally dead...So he could take the house..."

I'm dead...she grinned coldly...My own father said so...

Of course...He didn't know I was a rat...

But he didn't even look for me...Nobody did...

Nobody gave a damn...

Heck, Mom only left me the house because she was gonna take my body...And then stage my...er her  
suicide...

I'm dead...I just haven't stopped moving yet...

And I wish...I'd never been born...Not into this Hell...

"You're dead too, Mears...You just won't accept it yet..."

Pardon me?...Warren looked at her...

"So really..." Amy smiled... "If vamp Buffy or raging Willow catches us in the end...What does it  
matter?...We're dead..."

Her face hardened a bit...  
But before I let them bury me...I want that bitch to suffer too...That "sweet little Willow"...Who  
thought it was a big joke to play with me in that hell cage...Spent a total of 45 minutes in three years  
trying to help me...And I counted those minutes, Warren...And, when she was too bored to think of  
anything else to do...Changed me immediately back, no effort at all...

All of them...Let me suffer for three years...Until there wasn't an Amy to come back to anymore...

Until I was dead...

He frowned at her...

"Well, girly...You can be as dead as you like but Warren Mears is not dead...And I don't intend to  
die..."

She chuckled at him...He turned beet red...She waved an apologetic hand at him...

"Don't get mad, Warren...It's just...Hilarious to hear you of all people talking about not intending to  
die..."

"I am not dead!..."

He hesitated...

"Am I?..." he felt himself...Nah...

You're worse than physically dead, Mearsy...Amy grinned...

Your soul is on a one way trip to Hell...Forever...

"Maybe your little dreams will come true...Maybe you'll win...And for one year, ten years,  
twenty...Hell, maybe you'll find a way to live a couple of centuries...You'll rule Sunnydale, even the  
world..."

But after that...The bill comes due...

Unless...she paused...

"I like you Warren...I know I'm crazy to...I know you'd sell me out in a minute...But...I guess  
everyone needs somebody..."

You could still change the outcome...For Eternity...

Yeah?...he regarded her...

Yeah...she nodded...

"And pray tell...?" he sneered at her...  
"Repent...And sin no more..." she grinned...

They say it works...

Repent...? he stared at her...

"Turn yourself in for both murders and Buffy's shooting...Beg Willow's and Buffy's  
forgiveness...Try to do some good with whatever bit of your life you get back in and after prison..."  
she smiled at him...

Course you gotta be sincere...The Powers That Be can read phony, so they say...

He smirked...Repent...

Sure...If I believed in that crap...

"Hey...I tried, right?..." she eyed him..."Last kind act of the ghost of dead Amy...A nice girl, in her  
day..."

A little sadly, he saw...

God...she really meant it...he realized...

She really...Cared...

"Well..." she sighed...

Guess we're both headed for the same place...she smiled...So we'll each have company...

And who knows...Maybe we'll pull it off...Rule Sunnydale and the world...Together...

For a little while...

"Your confidence in our little scheme is really underwhelming..." Warren frowned...

Sorry...she patted his arm...

Just being realistic...

He looked at her a long moment...

"Amy?...If you really believe in all that crap...?"

Why don't you...You know...Give it up yourself...?

Repent...

"Who'd care...?" she smiled at him...

***

Deathwishes...Part XII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XII...

"A week...?" Buffy spoke into the phone...

Willow won't be home for another week?...she sighed...

And I won't get to see my...er Cicely's...letters and journal until then...she did not say...

Giles was apologetic...But, still...Sending the things with Willow had been the fastest and probably  
safest route...

Within his somewhat strained means...He kindly did not say...Not wishing to remind Buffy that his  
gift to her and his neglect of his own concerns had been the cause of the means straining...

She caught herself however, realizing she was running a tad low on the gratitude scale...

"Thanks for all the archive searching, Giles..." she hastily told him...

And...For taking care of Willow...

"She's ok?...Right...?" Xander called anxiously, having come over...

Buffy put up a hand...A mo, please...

Sorry...he backed off and sat by Dawn...

Who had questions of her own...For him...

Though the central question he'd been forced to answer already...Immediately on appearing at the  
door of the Box after finishing his little impromptu electrical installation job...

"William...?" Dawn, Buffy, Anya...Had all asked...

Anya ready to teleport...Not that she lacked faith in her Xander's solemn promise...

Just...If some accident had occurred to Will...Say Xander's fist had accidently smashed his face  
open...She was ready to provide immediate medical assistance...

After all, that wouldn't have violated his promise not to destroy William...

Buffy ready to leap out the door...Tense as a coiled spring...

All three sighing audibly in response to Xander's innocent... "I think I got his power all set..."

Good ole Xander...Buffy had hugged him, near tears...Joined quickly by Anya and finally  
Dawn...As he stared at them...

"It was just a few wires..."

Great...Buffy had nodded, beaming at her "big brother"...

Just as the phone...Giles...Had rung...

But Dawn still had many questions...

How'd he seem...? Was he showing more of the brooding remorse thing?...Had he told him  
anything about Cicely they hadn't heard yet?...Did he want to see them?...

Was his hair really as natural looking now as Buffy and An had said?...

Ok...Buffy eyed the others, having put the phone down...With the exception of Anya, who'd  
resumed her duty post at the cash register...

Love and redemption is all very well...And the gang was always more than welcome to use the  
Box...Especially with Giles still a partner...But, business to run...

Unless, of course Mr. Harris wanted to talk in private...she'd noted to herself...

Which apparently...He did not, just yet...

Rats...

Not wishing him to be one...she hastily added to her thought...In case certain somebodys might be  
thought-reading...  
Just...Things had been going so well between them this morning...He could at least have told her  
what happened with William in private...Like he would've in the old days...When she'd drag him off  
to make him tell her things in private...

"Ok..." Buffy continued...

Willow will be in New York for a week or so...Her mom is joining her there...Giles wanted her to  
have a little less pressure in the first reunion...Which is great...And what Wil needs...

Phew...Dawn thought...

She'll be coming home with her mom...Mucho less likely she'd kill us all with Mommie by her  
side...

"Giles gave her everything he could get his hands on about Cicely at the archives...He's sending a  
few digitalized documents by email..." Buffy noted...

So...We'll see all the Cicely stuff in a week...

Just a week...she corrected...

Ummn...For now...He thinks we should give William some down time...Not overdue the visits...

Not leave him alone of course...she hastily added...

Just not overdue it...While he gets a handle on the soul thing...

"So we can't go see him?..." Dawn looked at her...

Ummn...Not that I wanna rush another meeting with my sis' near rapist...she thought...

On the other hand...Soul thing cancels, right...Absolves?...

And he is my...(Gulp)...No, not yet...Hold on that one, Miss Summers...

Does a century-old marriage between two more or less dead (at times) people count?...

Ummn...Buffy replied...

"I'll check on him in a little while...But I think I should go alone..."

They looked at her...Dawn, Xander, Anya even, from her post...

"Just to check on him, guys..."

I'm going too...Dawn insisted...

Alone, Dawn...Buffy glared at her...

Buffy...Xander frowned...

"I was willing to give William a chance today...But I'm not willing to take a chance with you...We  
don't know how this thing will play out..."

He has a soul now, Xander...Buffy stared at him...

And he's my husband...Maybe...she did not say...Tried desperately not to think...

"Buffy..." Xander sighed...

"I gotta tell ya...He's not in great "romantic reunion" mode right now..."

And having a soul does not make him incapable of violence or anger...Or evil...

Violence...? Dawn jerked her head up...Looking nervously at Buffy...

"William is not evil!..." Buffy shouted in a sudden rage...Trembling...

How dare you talk about him that way!...she shook...

And burst into tears...

Xander stared at her...Was that a British accent?...he hissed to Dawn...

It's been creeping in on her all day long...Dawn whispered back...

He sighed, patting Buffy's shoulder and then hugged her...

"I want to see him..." Buffy sobbed...

Please...

"Buf..." Xander lifted her chin...

Ya know I couldn't stop you if you went...

But...I...

She looked at him...

"Does he hate me?..." she asked...

Does he hate you?...You?...Dawn thought, grumbling within...

Ok, right...Soul thing, rejection, driven off to a century of hideous torment...

Guess I can see where human Will might harbor a grudge...A misplaced grudge, of course...

I hope...she thought...

"He doesn't hate you...But..." Xander eyed Buffy, the tears tracking down her face...

Buf...He's had a terrible time...And...

"And I'm to blame..." Buffy sighed...

"Drusilla...Or better yet...(Least for me, he thought) Angelus...Is to blame, Buffy..."

Whatever Cicely did that night...

"I hafta see him Xander...I don't wanta go against you...I know you're just looking out for me..."

Will you take me...? she pleaded...

Just for a few...

"Isn't Will going to go on Patrol with her tonight...?" Dawn hissed to Anya, having gone over to  
her...

I mean...she explained as Anya stared at her...He always showed up on her Patrols...

And he's her...Ummn...

He always went on Patrol with her...she finished lamely...

"I think Will needs to take it slow with her for now, Dawn..." Anya noted...

Xander sighed at Buffy's tear-streaked face...

"An...Dawn...Buf and I..."

Will be back in a little while...

"Thank you..." Buffy kissed him...

He stared...That Brit accent again...And that wasn't quite the way Buf had ever kissed him  
before...From his limited, I-luv-ya-big-bro, Buffy kiss experience...

So...That's...he thought...

"You're welcome...Cicely..." he told her quietly...

Poor ole New York...Willow sighed, looking from her window as her plane continued its descent  
towards LaGuardia Airport...

One big open wound...The pain and sorrow like a shroud drawn over...

And yet...Hey, lady, she waved at the Statue of Liberty as she caught a quick glimpse through a  
cloud...

So much love...So much concern...

As she left the plane and reached the gate area, she began looking around...A little frantically...

Well, right, new security...Mom's probably...

She reached the security gate...Armed men in uniforms patrolling...

"Willow!..." her mother called, waving from just past the no admittance area...

God...She looks so worn...When did she get so worn...?

When did I stop seeing her...

Mom!...she waved, running...

Oh...Ma...she sobbed, dropping her bags and hurling herself into Mrs. Rosenberg's arms...

"Baby...Baby..." Mrs. R pulled back...

I'm so sorry, baby...

"I'm the one who's sorry, Ma..." Willow shook her head...

"Have you been eating?..."

All English stuff, Ma...I'm starved...You gotta a place in mind?...she grabbed her bags...

"What am I sayin'...You got four places lined up, right?..." she grinned...

"I know a good spot in Greenwich Village from my college days..." Mrs. R noted...Pausing by the  
transport desk to request a cab...

How's that nice Mr. Giles?...I gotta send him something nice for keeping us informed about you...

"Rupert's fine..."

Whoops...

"Rupert, eh?..." Mrs. R eyed her daughter...

Ma...

***

Deathwishes...Part XIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XIII...

"Haven't you ever been in a boat, Mr. Walthrop?..." Cicely asked...Smiling at the little man...As he  
struggled with the oars...

A day out in the Lake District, courtesy dear cousin Henry and his generous offer of his cottage...

Ummn...Walthrop shrugged...Trying to seem casual about it...Casual as one could with one oar  
floating off into the center of the lake while the other seemed likely to pull him in...

Why the hell she'd asked him to come out here...He'd never know...She must enjoy the spectacle of  
him constantly being humiliated, trying to cope with a world he'd never experienced outside of his  
beloved books...

Well, there goes the other oar...

And he'd given up critical exams time for this...Not to mention precious dabs of his funds in  
traveling here...Money much better spent on his books or better still sent to his sister and brother,  
Amelia and Philip...

Still, she'd promised to "fire his poetical imagination" with new sights...Actually she'd teased that  
she would do what she could to fire anything that might possibly be there...

Dim coals, judging by what she'd read of his work...  
Well, to be fair, a remark she instantly withdrawn and profusely apologized for after seeing his  
crestfallen face...

Rather remarkable, her consideration for his feelings just then...Considering her usual haughty prig  
manner...

She'd almost seemed...To care...

But then, she simply wanted to please ole Henry...And demonstrate her capacity for compassion to  
the lower orders...

Who knew, maybe she was in love with her cousin...? Unable to act on it, perhaps, but  
desperate to please him...

The boat was drifting out into the center of the lake...At least in pursuit of one oar, he noted, if rather  
slowly...

Oddly enough she didn't seem much distressed by the situation...Lost out on the lake with her  
cousin's ragamuffin charity case "friend"... The "dangerous radical" William Soames Walthrop...A  
joking sobriquet she'd placed on him at dinner the other night...Which her father had taken quite  
serious umbrage at...Glaring at the "radical" Henry had smuggled into his home all the rest of the  
evening...

Well, he supposed if she was so determined to take it calmly, the least he could do was demonstrate  
similar fortitude...

In the end, after all, he could always try...Drowning...er swimming...back to the shore, dragging the  
boat behind...

"Don't be distressed..." she told him...Kindly, he noted with surprise...

William...she paused...

He stared at her ...

"We can just drift a bit...We'll catch up to one of the oars soon enough..."

Tell me about your family...William...she eyed him...

"Henry says...He told me...Your mother died last year..."

Tuberculosis...he nodded...

And years of slaving like a dog...With beatings from the masters to boot...

"Amazing what "gentlemen" can get away with when the woman beaten almost to death by her  
employer is a poor servant..." he noted...  
God save the Queen, our just legal system, and our noble Parliament...

"Henry is hoping to better things like that..." she noted...

When he gets to Parliament...

I wish there were more like him...William noted simply...

"I've always said it...He is a good man...And my friend..."

Who owes you a great deal, William...she looked at him...

"He needed a bit of help...I was glad to oblige..."

"He would have failed and been sent down...If you hadn't taken him in hand..."

"I rather enjoyed helping a toff..." William said curtly...

Nice to have one indebted to one...Can come in handy...

"Are you always so ready to snap at anyone who shows you a little kindness...?" she glared...

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean that..."

As I didn't mean to hurt you the other day...she noted...

I thought you could take criticism...You certainly claim to be able to...

"I never claimed to be a great poet, Miss Addams...I just...Try to write..."

You need more...Experience...William...

"I've had years of it, Miss Addams...Assisting my mother and her fellows in service, working in  
factories, working anywhere I could make a few shillings...Trying to keep a roof over my brother  
and sister's heads...Bury my mother in some dignity..."

He eyed her...

You can't know the "experience" I've had...And frankly, I'm glad for you, you haven't...

It was clouding up and getting gusty...

"I may have had more "experience" than you can imagine, William..."

He stared at her...

"My name, by the way, is Cicely...Please use it...I don't like calling you by your first if you refuse to  
use mine..." she smiled wanly at him...

She looks tired...He noted...As if she's been working at the books or something...All night...

"Perhaps we'd best try heading in..." he looked at her...

Wouldn't want to compromise your reputation any further...

"I can bear a little "compromising"..." she smiled...Stared at him...

Was she...Nervous?...

And looked away...

"Henry thinks you have a great future..." she began...

Henry...Is a very kind friend...

"But when you get your degree..."

I will be a poor man with a degree from Cambridge, two others to feed...And...

A very bad poet...

"Your story the other night was very good..." she paused... "You have promise..."

A tale to friends about my working days...A hair better than my poems...

As your friend Henderson pointed out...When he gave me my new nickname...

"Bloody Aw..."

"Henderson is an ass!..." she eyed him fiercely...

You wrong me to call him my friend...

He stared at her...So angry...So suddenly...

Like a summer storm...

For...Him?...

"Are you going to let a fool like him tell you to stop...?" she went on...

Is that what your mother killed herself for...So you could give up at the first hint of criticism?...

"I have to think practically...Mouths to feed, remember?..."  
"Don't belittle my opinions, Will...iam...Just because I don't know hunger and cold right now  
doesn't mean I don't understand..."practicalities"..." she told him crossly... "I'm not a little fool, you  
know..."

Just because you must think of the practical doesn't mean...The romantic in you has to die...she  
muttered...Looking out toward shore...

Odd...? He could almost...Think she was talking about...herself...

The romantic mustn't die, Will...she looked back at him...Life's not worth living without it...

Wind was really picking up now...Boat rocking...

"Are you all right?..." she looked at him...

Just...he paused...

A trifle...Giddy...

A swell caught them neatly, lifting the boat, turning it over...

"William!..." she cried, grabbing for him...With simply amazing speed...

But a hair too slow...They went in separately...

He bobbed up...Much to his own surprise...

She wasn't there...He looked round in terror...

"Cicely!..." he screamed...

"Cicely!"

He pushed himself back down...And found her just under the upturned boat, stunned by striking the  
side...

Grabbing her, he desperately dived back under, while trying to cover her mouth and nose from the  
water...And popped up with her on the other side...She coughing and choking as he propped her up  
against the upturned boat...

He saved me that day, Buffy told Xander quietly, staring out the car window...And I thought...He's  
tougher than he looks...This sweet little William...

And he is a beautiful soul...A true romantic under that front...Who needs someone...Like me...

He can see it, I can tell...He sees there's more in me than some vain little fool...He can see the  
Slayer...  
And even more...The fellow romantic...

He'll do for me...I want him...

God bless you, dear Henry...For bringing him to me...

If we have the courage...I can escape my fate...With him... And help him escape too...I know he has  
the courage...I feel it...

If he wants me...If he can love me...

Best to get that straight, Miss Addams...And I will...

But I think...He could...He does...

If I can make him believe my story...And we have the courage...

Buffy paused...bowing her head and rubbing her temples...Xander continuing to listen quietly...

"I didn't tell him..." she said simply...

I was afraid...Afraid I'd lose him...

"I thought I could escape with him...I married him...But I knew...I was putting him in danger..."

"Oh...God, I loved him so much...!...But it was wrong...I couldn't let him die..."

And they were coming...Darla, Dru, and Angelus...The worst I'd ever faced...And I couldn't just  
leave London to them...

"I couldn't run from what I was..."

And...Then...she pondered...

Then my Watcher offered me a solution...

Xander glanced at her...

She shook her head...Shrugging...

"Cicely takes her own good time coming out...I'll just have to wait for the rest to surface..."

We're here...he told her...As the car pulled to a stop...Outside the grounds of William's new resting  
place...

"Beautiful place, isn't it?..." she eyed him...

Will and I didn't have much time to look it over...But it seemed nice...

Yeah...he nodded kindly...

It is a nice place...

"Well..." William stared at her as she stood with Xander in his new crypt's ground level...

Nice of you to drop by, Slayer...

"Care for something?...Thanks to ole Xan here..." he grinned at Xander... "I actually have a  
working fridge now..."

She shook her head...Looking around...

"We...Ummn...Should get some posters or something for you...From the house..."

Lower level only, my girl...he smiled coolly at her...

Groundspeople do swing by on occasion...

"Dawn...Says hi...Hopes you're ok..."

As ok as a dead man can be...he grinned...

She looked at him...

"Leave us a minute or two, Xander?..." she turned to him...

Just a minute alone...

Please...?

"A minute...Maybe two..." Xander replied...Eyeing Will...And headed outside...

"So...Miss Summers..." Will sat on the large stone slab in the center of the crypt...

Something on your mind...?

"Whatever you think...About what happened that night..." she said carefully, not looking at him...

"That night was a century ago...And Cicely...And William...Are long dead..." he noted...

So...Nothing to trouble your little head over...

She looked at him now...  
"I loved you, Will..."

You don't even know me, Buffy...he looked up at her...

"Spike was your little playmate last year...Whatever contribution I managed to make..."

"Don't do this Will...You went to Africa to come back to me...All the way..."

Spike went to Africa...To get the chip out...And come back and kill you...he smiled at her...

"He just picked the wrong god...One with a sense of ironic humor..."

Giles doesn't believe that...Buffy eyed him...

"He told me...The demon must have sensed you within...And what you really wanted..."

Hell...she grinned for the first time...

"You oughta know better than anyone...Spike was the only demon in the world with a decent sense  
of humor..."

I'm dead...Buffy...

I'm a dead man...With a vicious demon barely restrained inside him...

Who's killed thousands of people...At least a few of whom were more or less totally innocent...

"I was dead...Twice as Buffy...Once as Cicely..."

It's no picnic...But...I dealt...

"You weren't a mad killer, love..." he sighed...

You're not a killer, William...You're not resp...

"Spike is me!..." he got up, glaring...

My id, if you like...

But he is made from me...My dark half...

All they got out of you...Was the Nibs...he grinned at her...

"We all have a dark side, Will..."

You just haven't seen mine...

"Haven't I, pet?..." he looked at her...

I've seen Anne...Remember...?

Anne?...Buffy stared at him...

"Your demonic counterpart...Spike's seen her hovering round you...I've seen her...Hoping, praying  
for her chance...When you were with us in the crypt before...At our mercy..."

You have quite a demon sister, girl...he looked away...

"Why, Cicely...?" he stared back at her...

Why didn't you try to help me?...I cried out to you from Spike, Buffy...

You never heard me...

"I'm sorry..." she began...he waved her off...

He paced the crypt, continuing quietly...

As long as you got what you wanted...What you needed...You were happy to leave me as I was...

"Just as you used me in 1880...And spit me out when you were done..."

No...Will...

"I loved you so, Cicely...I stayed...Hung on...All these years...Because somehow, I couldn't believe  
that you'd done it...Somehow, I thought...You'd come for me..."

"I didn't...William...I loved you...I came back..." she gasped...

I'm "beneath you..."...Sound familiar?...he smiled...

"You still remembered it a century later...That night in the bar..."

I didn't know...I didn't know...she stared helplessly at him...

"Well...You have your hero now...Angel...A trade up, I'd say..." he nodded at her...

She looked back at him...

Don't worry...Miss Addams...he smiled at her...

I'll make no trouble about the divorce...Or annulment if you prefer...

"But then, I imagine your father arranged that for you after I died, eh...?"  
"He wanted to..." she eyed him...

I wouldn't let him...

He stopped in his pacing...

"You were the Slayer then, weren't you?"

Yes...she nodded...

And never told me...?

"I was afraid to...I thought...You'd leave me...Or worse...You'd try to fight with me..."

Why did you make me leave, Cicely?...Why that night of all nights?...

"I don't remember...Yet...Everything that happened..." she paused...

But Will...I didn't do it because I hated you...

I came back...I'm here...Because I love you...

"What happened to my brother and sister...?" he asked her suddenly...

Amelia, Philip...Do you remember them at all?...

I...she paused...

Sister...? Brother...? she thought, trying to concentrate...

"No...I didn't think you would..." he eyed her...

Will...

"Miss Addams...?...If you don't mind...I'd like a little time to think now..."

Alone...he stared at her...

She got up...Shaken and lost as he'd ever seen her...As bad as she'd been that day...He'd patched her  
poor hands...

"I guess...You need some time to think too, Buffy..." he told her, a bit more kindly...

She looked at him...

It's the kindness...In the eyes...

"I love you, William...Don't forget that..." she said quietly...

And I will wait...As long as it takes you...To come home to me...

She went to the entrance and called Xander back...

***

Deathwishes...Part XIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XIV...

The Master of the Sunnydale Universe is back...Warren thought happily...Eyeing the assembled  
demon allies...

All four of them...Amy noted to herself, watching her partner inspecting them...A proud Napoleon  
reviewing the Grande Armee...

Well, doesn't take much to make nerd boy happy...

And, she thought in spite of herself...Is kinda nice to see him happy...

No more talk of leaving Sunnydale...Leaving her...From him...Even with the long odds against  
them...

Still...she eyed him, hesitant...If we left now...If I could get him to take me and go...

He'd leave me...Soon as we were safe...If we ever could be safe...And Willow would go back to her  
happy life...Untouched, unbothered...Just a minor bit of make-up with the family...And a little  
remorse in the soul, quickly eased when Warren is revealed to still be among the living...

Of course...If we pull this off...For even a little while...He'll get rid of me as soon as he can...

It's just a matter of whether he kills me or Buffy or Willow does...  
And what does it matter?...To dead rat girl...

"Amy..." he called her over...

The boys would like a leetle display of your prowess, babe...

"If you don't mind...Just something simple to convince 'em we've got what it takes..."

Sure...she nodded and headed over, a faint note of eagerness in her voice...

Somebody needs me...

For a little while...

On the one hand...Dawn noted...Sitting at her sis' Willow-gift laptop...

Getting into Buffy's email is a violation of her privacy...One that I would never tolerate myself...

On the other hand...God I've gotta know what Giles sent her about Cicely and William...

Really he should've known enough to send copies to me...

Back to that first hand...What if there's something really, really personal in this stuff?...Not to  
mention the non-Giles stuff...Maybe something from Angel expanding on whatever he said to her  
last year when they met...

Hmmn...That sounds like a case for the other hand, for sure...If only to protect my (gulp)  
broth...Yikes!...Not yet!...Back up, Dawn, back up...Ummn...Will's interests...(Not that I'm  
forgetting the attempted rape of course...though...Spike's attempted rape...)

And there could be stuff concerning me...

Say an evaluation of my character...Or some plan with Giles for sending me off to an English  
boarding school when she gets back into college...

But back to first hand...How could I ever keep quiet about anything I read?...If it's any good...

I'd never be able to keep it in ...She'

be hurt...And she's been hurt a lot...

Other hand again...I am made from Buffy after all...Part of her...And Cicely, really...

He sent the stuff to both of us really...And I don't have to look at anything else...

As junior Slayer-in-training I must be kept informed...Especially as regards William the  
Bloody...(My b-in-l...Ohmigod!...)

And she does have her password right out...In the bottom of her desk drawer...In case she forgets it...

Practically an invitation to go on in...

***

He loves me...He loves me not...Anya stacked the Imhotep figurines on the main display table of the  
Box...

Females...Loves...

Males...Loves not...

Hmmn...This male one has a chip...Definite discard...

This one...Discolored...Really gotta speak to my supplier in Egypt...Another male for the discard  
pile...

Hmmn she smiled...Looks like it's...Shoot...

Broken arm on this female...But hey...It'll still work...Doesn't look bad at all...Definitely a keeper...

And the winner is...

Xander entered the shop with a troubled look on his face...

Troubled...And he came to me...

I tell ya...The Imhoteps are right on the money every time...

"Hey, Xander..." she called...

Whatdaya think?...she pointed to the stack of figurines...

Uh-huh...he nodded...

It's bad...

"Oh...?" she blinked...Staring at the stack...

What's wrong with them...? she asked...A little crestfallen...

Not a good omen...

"Everything...An...I tell ya...I'm worried..." he sighed, moving to their research area and taking a  
seat...

Oh?...she looked at the figurines...

Very bad omen...

Soul or no soul...he shook his head...

"Oh...You mean Buffy...er Cicely...And William...?" she perked up a bit...

What did you think I meant...?

"Nothing...So what's the matter...?"

"What's the matter...?" he stared at her...

An...Buffy believes she's the reincarnation of Spike's dead wife...

And that she's responsible for driving him to Drusilla...

He seems to share that opinion...

It might even...Be true...he sighed...

"And worst of all...I can't just stake him to make it all go way now that he's got a soul again..."

"Where is Buffy?..." she asked...

Took her home...he replied...

"Dawn go home?..." he looked around...

Yeah...Anya nodded...

Guess it's just us...she smiled wanly...

He looked at her a moment...

"I never got a chance to say...Thanks..." he told her...

For coming with me this morning...And keeping me from...

You know...he rolled his eyes...

"Was Will really angry with her?..."

I think he's...Looking for someone to blame...

Ah...Anya nodded...Anger...  
"It's one of the stages..."

Stages...? he stared at her...

In facing death...she explained...

"I was reading this article about the stages humans experience in facing death...Fear, Anger,  
Bargaining, and so forth to Acceptance..."

An...?

"You remember...I wanted to understand humans' fear of death...Back when Mrs. Summers died  
and I got all death-obsessed..."

But...William...he began...

"I know...He died a century ago...But he never got the chance to go through the stages..."

So...I figure...He's doing it now...

Hmmn...She could actually be right...he noted to himself...

"Buffy...Cicely...Just has to be patient while he gets through this..." she noted...

Actually...he paused...

That's just about what she told him...That she'd give him all the time he needed...

"She loves him, An..." he shook his head...

My poor Buffy...What is she gonna do?...

"There are worse things that finding your true love after a century, Xander..." Anya replied...

She might have lost him to Spike forever...But now...

"There are worse things..." she eyed him...

***

Holy shit...Dawn stared at the screen...

It can't be...

But it is...

The eyes of a digital copy of a portrait of Ms. Cicely Addams, 1878 stared back at her...  
Could it just be a resemblance?...Halfreck did look older...And something heftier...

Jesus...She came to me...

Naturally...I was made from her former client...Hell, no...

Her current client...

She's not here because of my little depression...She's not my "justice demon"...

She's...Buffy's...

Anya...I've got to call An...

"Dawn!..." Buffy called from the front door...

Yipe...she hastily began shutting down...

Hmmn...Buffy looked good as a brunette...

***

"Well..." Zorg, the Germanic older demon smiled at Amy...

A most impressive display of magical ability...

Absolutely...Warren beamed at her...

Ummn...Thanks...she nodded to their new ally...Smiling a little at Warren...

I was on my toes there...she grinned inwardly...

"This little scheme may indeed have a chance..." Zorg eyed her carefully...

And you really feel the new Ms. Summers will cooperate with us...?

"She'll be evil...That's all I really can guarantee..." Amy noted...

You know Evil generally has an eye on its own best interests...Warren quickly chimed in...

And our Amy will see to that Buffy the Vampire can't harm any of us...

"The new Buffy will deal...She'll see the benefits quick enough..." he smiled...

Perhaps...Zorg nodded...

But if not...What the hell...She'll be one of us and even if she kills us, Evil as a whole wins...he  
shrugged, smiling...

Ah...A selfless patriot for the Dark Side...Warren thought...

Laudable...But not quite to my way of thinkin'...

But I have a feeling...If Summers grows a brain tonight...With our help...And starts looking out for  
Number One...She'll be willing to deal...

With me...

"We should finalize things if we're gonna make an attempt tonight..." he pointed out...Pulling out a  
map...

Excellent idea...Zorg agreed...

Gentlemen...he called his fellows over...

We're all attention, my friend...he smiled at Warren...

Who glanced at Amy...Watch me, kiddo...Watch how Daddy handles this sort of thing...

She couldn't keep a wan smile off her face...

"Now..." Warren began...

Amy and I will be in position when you fellas reach the cemetery...

***

Hmmn...Dawn pondered as she headed to the stairs...

Tell her...And risk the wrath of Buffy-Cicely?...

Plus maybe having her go off half-cocked after a powerful "justice demon" like  
Halfreck...Demanding answers...Seeking "justice"...Against rather than from her...

And God knows what those answers, if given, might be...Possibly something that might bring poor  
Buffy more shame and remorse than anyone...Especially a recently resurrected anyone... could  
handle...

Or hold off...Let her head over to her Doublemeat shift and Patrol...And give ole Anya a call at first  
chance...

Get some vengeance demon protection enlisted on our side...

And...Maybe...With all due caution...  
Speak to my in-law...(Ohmigod!...)

***

"You got 'em eating out of our hand, girly..." Warren smiled at Amy...

Nice job...

Thanks...she nodded...

"We are gonna pull this one off, Amy..." he grinned...

It'll be you and me, kiddo...Lord and lady of Sunnydale...With Buffy as our very own pet vamp...

"Yeah...Look, Warren..." she sighed...

"I need somebody and I'm willing to admit I like you...But just keep in mind...I'm not stupid and if  
you start playing games with me...Well, I don't have Willow's power...So my defleshing would have  
to be the slow way..."

Hey...he put up his hands...

"You're the one with the power, lady..." he nodded...

For now, bitch...he did not say...

***

Deathwishes...Part XV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant  
Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly  
need a little help herself...  
Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1  
and on first to be sure...

Part XV...

"So..." Dawn ran down the stairs and up to her sis...Bright and chipper...  
"How'd it go with...Ummn...William...?"

Her eyes are rolling up...I know that look...What the hell has she done now?...Buffy  
wondered...Frowning a bit...

Was she in my room again?...

Still...

Sis-in-law rates the latest on her bro...

"He was better..." she nodded...

Settling in at the new place...

Much less suicidal...she did not say...

Much less suicidal I hope she likewise did not say...

"What did you say...? What did he say?...Did you tell him what Giles told us?...What did he  
say?..."

Lots...Very little...Yeah...Repeat that last one, please...Buffy replied...

"Buffy!...What happened...?...I want details!..."

"It's complicated, Dawn...He's dealing with a lot of things...So am I...And right now, supper and  
getting off to work are two of them..." she moved toward the kitchen...And stopped...

But...If you want... "Details"...Here's one...

"I told him I loved him...And I'd wait as long as it takes for him to figure things out..." she  
continued to the kitchen, leaving Dawn with her lower jaw down near the floor...

Holy...

***

Dinner...?...And a movie?...And it can be a "chick flick"?...Anya eyed Xander as they stood in the  
main room of the now closed Box...

I make my sorrow and undying love...The no-doubts-about-it undying love of an immortal  
vengeance demon, I might add, not the vaguely-hoping-in-an-afterlife human variety...Subtly clear  
to you...

"And that's the best you can offer me...?"

Cicely offered William better...At least she made a clean break...No nonsense about "lets try dating  
once in a while..."

"I thought you didn't believe Buffy...er Cicely actually did it?..." Xander noted, quickly seeking the  
outstanding diversionary topic...

"That's beside the point!...Xander...! What the hell's wrong with you...? We're watching a great  
love tale unfolding to its climax...Lovers separated by a cruel and hideous fate...A heartless  
God...Giving serious merit to Humanity reconsidering the benefits of polytheism, where you can  
always find another god to appeal to, I might note..."

And all you can do...With Will's incredible example staring you in the face...Is offer me a cheap  
night out?...And you, the "Man of Love"...she bowed her head, looking away...

"But I guess that only applies to Willow Rosenberg..." she sadly noted... "And only when she's  
insane..."

An...

"Please...Let me save you the cash..." she waved her hands...

"Is that what you want...?" he frowned... "For me to get vamped, keep my soul hanging around for  
love of you for a century, and then...Maybe...You'll consider taking me back...?"

You think I want you hurt?...God, Harris if I wanted you hurt...she gave a grim smile...Believe me...

She sighed...Staring at his beautiful face...Wishing...No...No, no, no...Beautiful face intact, not one  
iota changed...In fact I was wishing for a diet coke...

And not for him to become a diet coke, D-H...

"Xander...What I want should be clear, even to you...It's simple...But I'll even go so far as to tell  
you..."

I want you to go down on your knees, ask my forgiveness...Then, ask me again to marry you and  
this time...Mean it...

Ummn...

"Ummn?...Xander, there is no room for "Ummn" here!..." tears running down her face...

Out!...she pointed...

"Anya...Look...There are reasons...Some..." he paused...

Some would be the... "Xander, that's ridiculous...You're a good man...Don't worry we'll be fine..."  
...kind...  
But...Others...he sighed...

"I wouldn't hurt you for the world, An...But..."

What are the reasons...? she asked quietly...

Tell me...The "Xander, that's ridiculous..." ones first...

"I deserve to know..."

He nodded...

"Back at the wedding...After your former victim showed me a phony future...Our phony future...I  
started thinking about how my parents turned out..." he began...

That is ridiculous, Xander...You're not your father...You don't drink to abusive drunkenness, just to  
beer belly...And you've been working on that pretty well...

"I couldn't bear us to be unhappy in the end...Like them...And hurt our kids...The way they hurt  
me..." he looked at her...

Still ridiculous...In a noble, well-meant way...she noted...

"I'm not afraid of us, Xander...We won't be your parents..."

And I was afraid...he paused...

This one...Likewise ridiculous, I guess...

"I was afraid...I might die...Fighting things from the Hellmouth with Buffy...And leave you and the  
kids...(gulp)...If any...Alone..."

Now that one is so...easily dealt with...she smiled a bit...

"I'll hit you over the head or drug you and lock you in the house every time a new menace comes to  
Sunnydale..."

Heck I was gonna do that anyway...

"An..."

"Ok...We'll do the fight-and-die-together thing...I was a Viking girl...We're good at ritual suicide..."

Besides...It's sure to be the road Buffy and William will follow from now on...And if it's good  
enough for the Slayer and her honey...

"There's more...Less ridiculous..." he eyed her...  
More...Painful...Actually...

"Used to pain...Go on..." she tensed a bit...Guessing...

"I don't blame you for what you did after the wedding...I understand...But..."

She blinked...Oh...

"Oh my God!...Haly was right!...A half-assed test she called it..."

That's it, right?...This was a test...And I failed...

"No...An...I wouldn't..."

But that's how it comes out, right?...Things got tough...I resumed my old career...

Grade...F...

He stared at her...

"I failed, didn't I?..." she looked at him, despairingly...He just stared...

Xander, you knew what I was...You said it made no difference...

"An...You were human again...I thought the past didn't matter...I guess...I thought of Anyanka like  
Angelus..."

Different species entirely...Driven solely by instinct...No soul merging...she replied...

"The thing is...I thought she was gone...For good...So I never..."

Blamed me...For the past...? she eyed him...

"You were human...A wonderful, loving human...But you chose to be a monster again..."

A so-far, non-lethal monster...she hastily noted...

I know, he nodded...

But An...How can I be sure...If things get tough someday...?

"You think I'd hurt you?...And the (gulp) kids...All 2.5 of them?..."

Never us...he shook his head...

But maybe...Others...

"Oh...I don't know Mr. Harris...Hurting you is looking less and less like an impossibility..." she  
glared...

"You tested me!...Without showing me the exam sheet and answers beforehand?..."

Is that love, Xander?...Is that trust?...she looked away...

"Get out!..." she pointed...

"Out!...Before I..."

He moved to the door...

"I haven't harmed anyone, Xander..." she said quietly, not looking at him...

I don't intend to...

You should have trusted me...

"Don't come back, please..." she looked coldly at him now...

Except on Scooby business, of course...My shop is still part Giles'...And anyway, as a non-lethality  
committed member of a rational soul-merged demon race...I support efforts to avert mass murder  
and world destruction...

"Whether you believe in me or not..." she added...

"I'm sorry, Anya..."

Anyanka to you...she coldly noted...

He went out the door...She went over to a mirror on the wall...

"Mirror, mirror...On my wall..."

Who's the biggest fool of them all?...

Yeah...she stared at her demon face...

Smashing her head against the glass until it cracked and the blood ran...

***

Jorge stared at Miss Summers...Behind the Doublemeat counter...In her Doublemeat chicken/cow  
hat...

"This the big future I get if I follow your advice, lady?..." he smirked...  
I told you, kid...Glamorous facade...Harsh reality...she smiled back...

And no...This is the big future you get if you don't take it...

"So...Who's advice didn't you follow?..." he asked her...

More than half serious, she realized...

My heart's...she replied...Smiling wanly at him...

But...I'm workin' on it...  
***

Deathwishes...Part XVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Anne...

Part XVI...

Like all great battle plans...Warren had noted to his allies as he gave the final briefing three hours

earlier that evening...Amy standing beside him...

This one is deceptively simple...

Thank God...he had not said, looking at the three Zorg had persuaded to join the action...

"It consists of three defined elements..."

First...The target, our dear Slayer...Kept under surveillance by our fair witch's tracking spell...

In the present, three hours following the time of Warren's briefing, Buffy now entered the McGarvey

cemetery...Spike's former home...A quiet Patrol so far...

Followed on Amy's spell map by her waiting "nemesis"...er "nemeses"...

The second...Warren had noted back at the briefing...Our diversionary force...

Three of the demons had looked at him, nodding a bit wanly...Ummn...?

Us, gentlemen...Zorg had explained...

My apologies, miss...he'd hissed to Amy...Waving sadly at his comrades...

In the old days, back in the Death's Head Brigade...he'd sighed...

Stationed by the side entrance to the McGarvey cemetery...A place the Slayer has always seemed

quite drawn to...

Home of her dear Spike...Warren had smirked...Not aware that William had recently changed his

address...

"Dear...?" Zorg had asked...A trifle startled...

Knew William the Bloody had turned traitor after his emasculation but...

"She's been involved with him..." Amy had explained...

Emotionally involved...she'd noted...

Really?...Zorg had blinked...

William the Bloody bagged his third...One of the other demons had explained to his confused

colleagues...

Wow...Echeb, a multi-horned Scarb demon was impressed...

Three Slayers...A definite record...

But...Then...

How come we're here?...

The human way with Summers...his informant had snickered...

Eehew...One made a face...

In the present, alerted by cell phone, the four demon allies, led by Zorg, now entered the cemetery

via a side gate...Dispersing as instructed and moving toward the center of the place...

The third...Warren had noted, smiling at Amy...Who hadn't been able to resist a faint smile back...

Us...Already in our separate positions...Moving in and over to the north part of the cemetery during

one of the security guards' shift changes...Set and ready as our target enters the zone...

In fact, as events unfolded in the present, they'd had to wait nearly an hour beyond the Slayer's

usual time for reaching the cemetery...Buffy having less reason to be eager to get over to McGarvey

these days, unbeknownst to their primary source, Amy...

Which fact had left an irritated Warren pacing his immediate waiting area...At some risk to the

scheme, Amy noted to him when she'd caught up with him...

At this point in the briefing earlier one of the three junior demon partners for lack of certainty as to

rules of etiquette had raised his hand somewhat nervously...

"But how do we transform the Slayer...? We'll be fighting her, right?...And we're not vampires...

Can the witch do it?..." he'd asked...

No...Warren had shaken his head, grinning...

Amy can't...And you'll be running from Ms. Summers...Not fighting...

Hopefully...he'd thought...As these clowns won't last ten seconds...

But...?

"There's a fourth element..." Warren had smiled...

A bit less defined...And somewhat unpredictable...But...In a cemetery like McGarvey...Always at

hand...

Our vampire sire...

Oh...Two of the junior troops had nodded...

"But...What if nobody rises tonight...?" the hand?raiser had persisted...

"My friend..." Warren had expansively beamed at him...

This is a Sunnydale cemetery...There are always vamp rising...Besides...

"This particular one has at least two permanent residents..."

William the Bloody...And...Warren had looked at Amy...

"Think his name's Phil..." she'd replied...A hair uncertain...

Whoa...All the bases covered...The three had nodded contentedly...

"Mr. Mears...?" Zorg had eyed his partner...Questioningly...

Has not Spike had plenty of opportunity to turn Ms. Summers in the past?...Why should we consider

him a possible sire candidate now...?

Kinda interested in that myself, Warren...Amy had thought...Eyeing him...

"Spike has a behavioral chip implanted in his brain to prevent him attacking humans..." Warren had

explained...

Courtesy those government types who were here a couple of years ago...He came to me for help with

it once...

Jesus...Echeb had shaken his head in horror...That's not right...

Those damned Initiative bastards...he'd sighed sadly...

How could we let such things happen in this country?...

"There's no guarantee that he'd help out...But if Summers were dropped at his feet, unconscious and

unable to defend herself..." Warren had smirked...

True love might take its natural course, in spite of some momentary pain...

In any case...The sire will not be a problem...We could even go find one outside the grounds...

The real trick is getting the drop on our dear Buffy...

"And that...With Amy's assist...Is my own unique contribution..." Warren had concluded...

In the cemetery, present time three hours later... Buffy frowned at the little guard...The vamp from the other night when William had announced his

homecoming with a bang...

Who'd come running up, greeting her as an old friend as she made her rounds of the McGarvey

grounds...

Still...He had tried to help her with Spike the other night, she had to give him credit...

God...Vampire boyfriends, undead husbands, me resurrected and reincarnated...And now, sober and

responsible vamp citizens trying to earn their blood in honest and honorable fashion...

Where, oh where have those simple days of Slaying gone?...

"Everything quiet here?..." she made an effort to be polite...

Absolutely, the vamp nodded...

And your human partner?...

"Still human?..." she eyed him...

Oh, yeah...he nodded his head emphatically...

But...It's a new guy...Last coupla nights...

High turnover...he explained hastily...I swear...

You could check with the home office regards my old partner, Mike...

"The new guy...Bill...He's checking down over that way..." he pointed...

Ok...Buffy nodded...

"I'll take a look around and leave it to you...But..." she frowned..."This is probation, you

know...Dependent on your continued good behavior..."

Right...he put up a hand...

You can count on Phil, Slayer...he told her gratefully...

"All right...Phil..." she nodded...And headed for the other side of the graveyard, down the same row

of large monuments where she'd encountered William the other night...

Phew...Phil mopped his forehead...One tough lady...He watched her moving quickly down the row

of white and beige...

Still, nice girl...Not nearly as harsh as some of the guys described her...

Kinda pretty picture...Her moving in the center between the stone and marble blocks and statues on

either side...As they glistened in the moonlight...

But duty calls...He headed off about his rounds...

Hmmn...

I smell the blood of a clueless happy meal...Definitely not good ole Bill...

He turned and walked towards the scent's source...

Not that he was even for a moment considering...

Just...His job...Gotta keep those poor graves undesecrated by those idiot punk kids...

Of course...If he did manage to catch one, alone...With the Slayer off about her own work...

Well...The place was clearly posted...No Trespassing on Penalty of Prosecution...

And he'd just be dispensing...Immediate justice...Protecting the sacred graves of the dead from

molestation...

His job...Both a duty...And...Sometimes...A pleasure...

Well...William groused to himself, moving slowly down the street...

Here we are again...Out looking for Buffy...

Dog off its leash looking for its owner...

Looking for yet another kick, perhaps...?

Jesus!...He jumped as Anya materialized beside him...

"Hi..." she smiled...

Sorry...Didn't mean to...

"Girl...Wear a bell or something..." he frowned...

Just wanted to see how you were...she glared...

"Still dead...still twitching..." he eyed her...

Harris send you?...

"My idea..." she noted, a bit annoyed...

Figured Buffy would like to know how you're doing...And that someone was watching out for you

while she...

Ah...He doesn't trust me...Will smiled...

Natural enough I suppose...

"He's concerned...About Buffy...Even about you..."

"The Man of Love"...Will grinned...

"It suits..." Anya replied firmly...

But this was my idea...she repeated...

Are you ok, Will?...she stared at him...

And looked round...

"You're looking for Buffy, right?..."

I can just wanta take a stroll, lady...I've been cooped up all day in a crypt, you know...he frowned at

her...

"I'm fine...Thanks..." he added, a tad more graciously...Seeing her concerned face...

Like Buffy's when she left this afternoon...

"You think I'm being too hard on her?..." he asked as they walked...

Are you asking me as Anya the human Buffy friend?...Or Anyanka the vengeance demon ready to

grant your wish for revenge?...she eyed him...

He stared...

"Better me than somebody like Haly..." she smiled...

I'd push you into wishing she had a bad hair day or a pimple...

"I don't want to hurt her..." he shook his head...

But...

"You've had a terrible hand dealt you, Will...In that great non-governmentally sponsored lottery

called life...It's only natural you're angry..."

They walked on in silence...

Ummn...she paused...

"You know...I think Buffy's on Patrol up around the McGarvey cemetery...Do you want to head

over?..."

I dunno...he sighed...

Maybe it's best not to meet up with her for a day or two...

"She'd be glad...To have your help..." Anya noted...

He looked away...

"Said she loves me..." he muttered...Not looking at her...

This afternoon, back in my crypt...Before Xan took her home...

She loves me...he looked down the street, at the various storefronts...And at a few couples strolling

by...

"Well...Cicely "loved me" too...For a little while..."

What makes you think she stopped loving you?...Anya looked at him...

What are the signs, Will?...How do you fix it?...Tell me... she did not say...But stared intently at

him...

"She hasn't told you?..." he stopped and looked at her...

About that night?...he stared at her face...

Right...he nodded...Well, maybe she doesn't remember all of it yet...

But she remembered enough...

Years ago...She remembered enough...

"What happened...?" Anya asked kindly...

He put up a hand...

"Lets just say...She decided ole William was "beneath her"..."

Too poor, too awful a poet...Not enough for her...

She stared at him...

"It's funny you mentioned Halfreck..." he looked at her...

Spike knew her...In Hell vaguely, I think...Her pure demon anyway...And she met him later one or

twice...

Haly?...

"And oddest thing...She's rather like Cicely...A little older now...A few pounds heftier...But unless

memory fails me...She's Cicely older twin..."

Anya blinked...

Cicely's twin...?

"She came to Dawn..." Anya muttered...

Dawn...Made from Buffy...she thought...

Oh...My...God...

What...? he stared at her...

"Excuse me...Back later..." she waved, vanishing...

I just can't keep them...he sighed to himself, continuing to walk along...

Hmmn...McGarvey cemetery...

Five miles at least...

Well, got nothing else to do...

Yeah...he chuckled at himself a little...

We may be estranged...But a good little Victorian hubby always checks to see the little woman is a-

ok...

Can't allow the Missus Walthrop to be accosted by miscreants...

Give her a laugh to see me running up, anyway...he sighed...

But picked up his pace a bit...A sudden, odd little cloud of fear gripping his heart...

I shouldn't have let her go without telling her it was all right...

I shouldn't have let her go out alone...

I should have said...

Ridiculous...Nothing's gonna happen to this Slayer...Defeater of goddesses...

Reincarnated, resurrected...

He picked it up still more...

C'mon...

Pick up the phone...Dawn groused at her cell phone...

Anya?...Geesh...

Not at the shop...Not at Xander's...Not at her apartment...

The only person who could help me...Unless Willow were here...Maybe Giles in a pinch...

Well...Xander was home...I could call him back...

And tell him...I think Halfreck may have worked for Cicely...Buffy once...Yeah...That'll do it...

Still...

Course there's always the direct approach...Ask her straight out...And Halfreck always did like me...

Especially when she was gonna kill me, granting my stupid wish...

Hmmn...Buf would ground me for...Still...If I got Halfreck to tell what she did and why...

But...How do I summon Haly anyway?...Act morose I guess...

Well...The direct approach always is the best they say...

But, maybe best to try outside...Don't need any more bloodstains or wrecked furniture, even if she is

in a good mood...She moved to a spot in the backyard...

"Halfreck!..." she yelled...

Deathwishes...Part XVII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XVII...

"Xander!..." Anya cried...Materializing in his living room...

He hasn't changed a thing...Oh...she sighed...

He might vacuum once in a while...Geesh...

Xander emerged from the bathroom...

Oh...she sighed again...

Our old bathroom...The shower of infinite delights...

The toothpaste tubes and razors we shared...

Well, he never knew I used his razors on my legs...

An?...he stared at her...

"Ummn...This is about Buffy and William, Xander...I think you better sit down..."

He sat down...

Oh...He's sitting on our old sofa...The way he always used to...When I'd push him aside to grab my

favorite spot...Sigh...

Anya?...

Hmmn...? Oh, yeah...Duty...

Proving that my compassion for things human...More or less, considering William/Spike...Is still

intact...Despite my reversion to demonhood...Merged-soul, non-lethality-committed demonhood...

"Xander...I just found out something about Cicely...And Halfreck..."

Halfreck?...he stared...

Halfreck...she nodded...

Odd...Amy thought as she scanned the cemetery...

I only sense one measly vamp here tonight...Just one...

Must be that idiot guard guy, Phil...

Where's Spike...? Buffy's here...He just got back from wherever he was all summer a couple nights

ago...This was his home, after all...He should be around, annoying her...While she pretends she can't

stand his presence a moment longer...Then goes off with him to have sex...

Well...I guess they're taking a break...She had been keeping her distance from him the last few times

I saw them together before he left...

Maybe he just stopped off to say good-bye and left for good...

What a shame...They made a nice couple...Sort of Hepburn and Tracy, Beatrice and Benedict...

Not that I'm doing this for Buffy's benefit...But if it woulda united their demons forever

immortally...I might have felt a hair better about the whole thing...

Well...As Warren said at the meeting...There's always a vamp somewhere nearby in Sunnydale...

In fact...I faintly sense two or three within three miles...Not a big deal...

In case Phil wusses on us...

Shame it might have to be him, though...

She felt Buffy approaching...From the southwest...

Well...Time to assume my role...she thought...Waving her arms...

Buffy halted, tensed as she sensed...Demons...

Approaching from several points...Just to the east and south of her...

She swung around as Zorg and his "men" appeared across the flat modern stretch of the central

cemetery...

A rather scruff-looking crew, except perhaps for old Zorg himself...He rather tall and distinguished?

looking...For a hideous, scab-covered demon with mucus-filled loose skin plates on the sides of his

head rising and falling with each breath that is...

Hmmn...she frowned...

They didn't seem all that interested in charging her directly...Moving off fast to the side...

Guess it'll have to be an intercept rather than beating off a frontal assault...she thought...

Pity Dawny can't be here...These fellas don't look like much and it would be good for her to see me

on the offensive...

She picked up after them...Moving diagonally across the row of tombstones...

Shame they cut down all the trees in this section...Just to crowd more tombstones in...Spike's old

crypt in the older southern section at least had some decent shade trees and bushes...

"Anyanka..." Haly frowned at her...

You know I can't divulge client information...It would be a breech of trust...

She stood in Xander's living room facing Anya and Xander...

"Well...Dreamboat...?" she smiled coldly at Xander...

Still alive and kickin'...?

Anyanka...I am shocked...she grinned...

In the old days...

"I called you here to tell us about Cicely Addams...And Buffy Summers...Haly..." Anya glared...

Not to jerk my ex-'s chain...

And I told you...I...Can't...Tell...You...Halfreck folded her arms...

"I wish...You'd tell me, Halfreck..." Xander tried...

Oooh...Haly grinned...Such a clever little Dreamboat...

A wish...Gee...

Only problem is, see...You're not my client...

"Unless you're seeking vengeance on some of those girls who used to torment you back at

Sunnydale High?..." she eyed him... "Maybe turn them into cawing crows?...Or worse, cut off their

charge accounts?..."

You could do that?...Xander looked at her...

"Could even turn them all into Xander-adoring sexrobots like that Buffy-bot..." she grinned...

Really?...

"Xander!..." Anya glared...

Just stringing her along, An...Til you think of something...he hastily replied...

"Haly...? You took Cicely's form in 1880?...And this is her form you're in now, right?..." Anya

looked at her...

Well...Yeah...Halfreck nodded...

I kinda liked it...And William was very fond of it...

I was hopin'...Maybe in time...Coupla centuries or two...Spike might come to look on me a bit...As

sort of a substitute Cicely...

Of course my original human form wasn't that different to begin with...Just...We ancient Egyptians

had such bad teeth and all...she added...

"I added a few years...And pounds...So I could do the guidance counselor thing with dear Dawny..."

Wanta see the real Cicely?...she grinned...and took on a younger, more slender form...In 1880-style

dress...

"Mr. Harris...Anyanka...So delightful to see you again..." she curtsied slightly...Offering a delicate

hand...Twirling a parasol...Speaking with a pronounced British accent...The exact accent Xander

and Anya had heard Buffy speaking with in brief episodes over the past few days...

So that's Buffy in 1880...Xander thought...

She resumed her Halfreck form...

"Why did she do it, Haly...?" Anya stared at her... "Why did Cicely have you drive Will away?"

Ask her...Halfreck eyed her coolly...

She's the client...

Buffy doesn't remember yet...Anya replied...

Really?...Halfreck grinned...

"How convenient for her..."

So nice to have that good ole... "I was reincarnated and don't remember a thing" excuse handy...

"Did William buy it?..." she smiled...

Probably did...He always was a fool for love...

Her face fell a bit...

"And he always did love her...Even after..."

"Poor fool..." she sighed...

Tell us what happened that night, Haly...Anya pleaded...

"Please...We've got..."

Whoops!...Haly waved a hand...

Sorry...Summons in progress...Gotta go...

"Haly!..." Anya cried...

She vanished...

What are these fellas up to?...Buffy thought as she raced after Zorg's diversionary force...

They keep backing away every time I think they're gonna make a stand...

Might be an ambush in progress...But where's everybody else...? Plus they've got some kind of

magics knowledge...

Twice throwing up an illusion to fool her while they slipped away...

Good thing I have Giles' amulet to deflect any normal spell casting on me personally...Not enough

to hold off a super-Willow but against the run of the mill love-spell caster, animal-shape-

transformer...Good enough...

Wise call on his part to prevent any more monks, evil Ethan-style wizards, or angry wiccans

(meaning Amy only, of course...Willow is fine, now...just fine) from messing with my mind or

body...

She focused on the closest one, poor Echeb...If she could just catch one and get some info out of

him...

She's really moving...Warren noted to himself, watching Buffy via night vision goggles...

Good thing we didn't plan on just trying to shoot her or tranquillizer dart her...We'd never hit her

tonight from any distance...

Say...What's with the funny hat...? he wondered...

"Warren?..." Amy hissed, drawing near...

Jesus, Mary, And Joseph!...he blinked in fright, eyeing her...

And I'm not even Catholic...

Boo...Amy grinned wanly at him...

Or at least her intent was to be grinning wanly...

In her present form...A leetle hard to tell...

"Whatdaya think...?"

I think Jonathan has to take a seat far in the rear of the bus compared to you...he grinned back...

Really?...she beamed...

"You look great too...Warren..." she told him...A shy tone in her voice rather out of place with the

hideous eight foot tall snarled red demon form she'd taken...

Slayer's nearly caught up with our boys...Warren noted...

Time for our little playlet...

She loves me...She must have loved me...William repeated over and over to himself, hustling down

the road through downtown...

She'd have no reason to lie to me now...Unless...

Cicely always was kind...When she wasn't sending me flying across her back garden...For

absolutely valid reasons, of course...

And with the exception of that one night...When kindness failed her...Or, she decided the situation

called for harsh measures...

She might...Have passed that kindness of hers onto Buffy...Buffy might...Be trying to ease things for

me...

Help the poor lost boy...The way she tried to help a poor student friend of her cousin's in...

But no...No...She married me...That wasn't charity...That wasn't kindness...Hell, she asked me...

She loved me...She loves me...I felt it...I feel it...

I stayed around for a century because I knew it...Believed she'd come for me...One day...

But...he paused in midstep...If she was the Slayer...And knew what I'd become...

Why?...Why didn't she come for me?...Release me?

Of course...If she reincarnated before Buffy...And tried to stop me before...

God, if only I'd known Chinese...

If it's true...If she loved me enough to come back for me after all these years...

Then she loved me in 1880...And it was all some kind of terrible, horrible...

Accident...?...Misunderstanding...?...

No...Oh...Christ...he put his hand to his head...Buffy Summers...Cicely Addams...The Greatest

Slayers of All Time...Constantly called on to fight evil...

Compassionate and protective of all they love...To a dangerous fault at times...

She was protecting me...

She drove me off...To keep me safe...

Jesus...Some protection...

Damn her...

She never trusted me with the truth...Never believed in me...Never trusted in us...

How could she not have known...?

That I wouldn't have cared...That I would've gladly died the night of our wedding...Just to be with

her for whatever time we had...

Little Willy the poor poof poet must be protected...Even if my heart must be shattered...That was it...

I was "beneath her" all right...Her feeble little poor boy husband...No choice in the matter for him...

Well, Cics...That was a freakin' brilliant move on your part I must say...

God knows what happened to my family...I nearly killed your reincarnated self (unless, oh God, you

were those other Slayers as well...)...Nearly lost my soul in Spike...Came as close as possible to

making you hate me forever...

Really think we're gonna have to work at this marriage a bit, girl...

Poor Echeb had exhausted the small bag of illusion spells Amy had doled out to the four demons...

And Buffy was closing in on him...

He halted...Ready to face his doom and too exhausted really to care anymore...

Buffy came up to him...Now in the middle of McGarvey cemetery...

Exactly where the plan called for her to be...

"Who are you?..." Buffy called to him as she came up...Cautiously scanning for the expected

ambush despite the lack of demon vibes...

Just...Walking...Slayer...Not...Doin'...Any...Harm...he gasped out...Wheezing now as he watching

her...

Who...Are...You?...she repeated...

I want an answer...Now...she raised her stake...

Echeb...he replied...Still gasping...Now falling to his knees...

And...? she glared...

He blinked at her...Slayer?...Don't use a last name...he explained...

She rolled her eyes...Shaking her head...

"Why are you here?...No more games..."

Just...Out for...A Walk...

Uhnnn...she groaned...

And put the stake to his throat...

He gulped...Rearing back on his knees as much as possible...

Well...? she glared...

"My other pal...Is the hunter...We're just the...Ummn..."

Diversionary force...

She blinked at him...

A scream came across the rows of tombstones...Human, from the north...

My pal got lucky...Echeb noted happily...

She pulled the stake away and raced off as he watched her...

Nice girl...he thought...

Very compassionate...Concerned...

Wonder how soon before her demon will go out dating...?

Up in the north part of the cemetery, a now somewhat-winded Buffy came upon Phil's partner, Bill

the human...And the eight foot "hunter" demon Echeb had mentioned... Bill groaning as the huge

demon lifted him helpless in its arms...Its four pals, the "diversionary force", having fled the

cemetery for now...

Buffy raced over to the thing's side and let off a hard kick...The creature staggered back, dropping

the guard...

Bill rolled on the ground, clearly the worse for wear...As was the demon, now on its knees, gasping...

Rather easy this fella, considering its size...she noted...

She caught her breath a bit, moving over to the guard while eyeing the creature...Which suddenly

vanished...

Whoa...She tensed...Magics capable and Invisibility?...Or a teleporter...?

Wish Anya were here...

She looked at ole Bill...Still moaning a bit...And helped him up...

"Thanks...Miss..." he gasped...

What...What was...?

"Who knows...?" she shrugged, smiling...

You ok?...she eyed him...

Middle-aged, on the hefty side...

A stereotypic security guard...

Funny though, something in his voice...Sounded...Vaguely...

"Don't...feel...Well..." he gasped again...Clutching his chest...

He staggered and she grabbed him...

Heart...he moaned...

"I'll call an ambulance..." she told him...

Please...I'll be ok...Just get me...Over to the guards' shack...By the main entrance...My meds are

there...he groaned...

"Can't let the company think...I can't handle it...My job...Please..."

Hmmn...

Perfectly understandable...Buffy thought...Given the circumstances...

And after all that racing around...I could use a break...

Really should recommend to his company they have folks here in somewhat better physical

condition, though...

Hmmn...You know...William will need a job...And I'll bet he could get in some writing time

working here...

Plus it might help Spike deal with the loss of control...That guaranteed bit of violence every night...

Might even be something for me to consider...If it pays better than Doublemeat...

Workin' with the hu...she grinned to herself as she helped Bill, who seemed a tad better,

along...Well...Lets not rush things...

Oh...!...Bill groaned again, collapsing in her grip...

His ring, a large one on his fourth left finger, scrapping her hand as he sagged...

Geesh...CPR, how do you do CPR?...she thought, settling him on the ground...

Wish Xander were here...Our resident expert...

God, I really gotta take a first aid class...

The large demon reappeared ten feet in front of her...Baring fangs...

Crap...

She reared back, assuming a defensive posture...But...Felt...Something...

Wrong...?

Dizzy...?

"Get out of...Here..." she called to the demon...

Or...I...Will hurt you this...

Oh...?...she wobbled a bit...What...?

"Something wrong, Buffy?..." the demon smiled at her...

What...? Buffy tried to keep her stance...

The creature for its part a bit bruised and battered by Buffy's womanhandling a moment

before...But...

It pulled a dart gun up...And fired...

Buffy gasped, staggering...

What...Are you...? she collapsed...

"Hey...Don't go without saying goodbye to your old pal..." Bill grinned at her as he stood up...

She blinked, as she writhed a little on the ground...Passing out...

Warren started to remove his fat pads and wiped some of the wax makeup from his face...

Buffy opened her eyes, moaning...Staring at him...

Who...?

"Better give her another shot...Slayers are preety resistant..." he noted...

The creature dutifully fired again...

No...Buffy groaned...

Oh...God...Not now...No...

"William..." she moaned...

William...

"Guess it was true love at that..." Warren smiled at Amy as she resumed her human form and they

stared at the now unconscious Buffy...

Amy stared at Buffy...

"Well...So..." Warren leered at the still form of the Slayer...

The mighty Summers brought low...

Now just the last piece to fit in...he eyed his partner...

"Vamps?..." he asked...

One nearby...she noted, still staring at Buffy...

"Hmmn...Well, lets hope it's dear ole Spike...I like doing things for my past customers..." he

grinned...

And if he loves her?...Amy looked at him...

He can either take her...Or we kill him and get someone else...Warren sneered...

"Better go and lead him...Or her...Over here..." he noted...

We don't have all that much time...he eyed Buffy...

What a night...Phil groused to himself...Having traced Amy's faint scent back and forth across the

cemetery...Finally to ole Bill's end of the cemetery...

Where Ms. Summers was no doubt checking things out...

Oh, well...At least he might score a few points with her, proving his trustworthiness by helping the

little happy meal find its way off the grounds safely...What with all the ruckus a few minutes ago

from the central area...

Who the hell were those clowns racing off the grounds just then...? he wondered...Demons, definitely

but no chums of his...

Thank God the Slayer was around to deal with things...Guess she scared 'em off...

Whoa...Amy materialized in front of him...

"Hi...There..." she grinned...

Looking for me?...

The human, he realized...But a magics type...

Handle with extreme care...

"This here's private property...Miss..." he pronounced solemnly...

You can be arrested for trespassing here...

"Didn't mean to roam around...Guess I just got lost...Sorry..." she sighed...

Just playing with a few minor spells...

"Spells...?" he asked...

Anxious to maintain his role of clueless security person as long as humanly...er well, you

know...possible...

"I'm not much good at it...But this is the best place to test things out..."

Private property...he repeated...

No trespassing allowed...For any reason...

Well...Sorry...Amy looked at him sheepishly...But...Maybe you could show me the way out...

Hmmn...No sign of the Slayer...

And he was in the market for a new mate...

So it wouldn't be like he was just using her to feed...She'd still be around...More alive than ever

from his pov...

He assumed work face...And rushed on her...

Whoops...A barrier threw him back...

Hey pal...Amy smiled...

Attacking humans?...And after all that spiel you gave the Slayer...?

The vamp resumed human face and eyed her...Clearly not your average happy meal...

"Course I could turn you in to her...But...Since she's right here...Warren!..." she called...

Mears dragging the unconscious Buffy over to them...

The vamp nervously eyed her...Mears...And Buffy on the ground...

"What is this?..." he looked at Amy...Who grinned...

"Your lucky day, pal..."

You get to be the Slayer's sire...

"Unless..." she paused...

"You want me to wake her up right now and find you alone with her..."

I imagine...She wouldn't be inclined to accept your protestations of innocence...

"And you'd be sitting pretty with a vamped former Slayer as your little girl..."

He stared at Amy...Whoa...

But being a practical sort...To whom such things rarely...Ok, never...Happened...

"How's about I take you and your friend out and earn the Slayer's gratitude..." he grinned...

Hell, I won't even kill you...Just take enough to put you under...

No other way...he noted...She'll understand when you're compelled by me to tell her whatever it is

you're up to...

A sensible vamp...Amy noted, nodding...Rare thing in this town...

Warren eyed Amy nervously...Ummn...

"Well..." Amy smiled...

Give it your best shot...she grinned at the vamp...

He charged again...And rebounded from the spell barrier around her and Mears...

"Try again..." she said kindly...

Maybe with a leetle more...Ommphf...You'll make it...

He tried again...With the same result...

Falling back, he stared at them...And the Slayer on the ground...

"She's all yours, buddy...If you hurry..." Warren grinned at him...

"Are you absolutely sure this is a good idea?..." Amy hissed to Warren as the vamp stared at

Buffy...

What...? Warren eyed her...

"Are you kidding...? You wanta quit now...At our moment of triumph?..." he glared...

I just mean...If she saw us...Buffy the Vampire is not likely to remember us fondly...

And even if she didn't...

"Please...She never got a gander at anyone but Zorg and co...Besides, Buffy's demon will be far too

busy dealing with friends and family to bother us...And we'll be protected...If you do your job,

babe..."

Our new vamp queen will have to come to terms with us...

Ok...Amy sighed...

If you keep your big mouth shut and stay out of sight until I say...she noted...

Please...she added...

He frowned a mo...Then, suddenly...From somewhere in the buried recesses of what remains of

humanity were left in him...

She's protecting me...he realized in some slight wonder...

She cares about me...The first person since Kat...Back at the start...

Well, natch...The moment fading...

This needy babe can't let go of her Warren daddy...

Warren backed off to some bushes...Amy resumed the demon form and approached the sleeping

Buffy cautiously...As the vamp guard watched...

She carefully removed the amulet Buffy wore on her upper arm, then threw some dust on her from a

bag...Chanting briefly...

Then sprinkled dust on herself...Moving to Warren...Who eyed her...

"You want protection or no...?" she frowned at him...

This stuff doesn't cause cancer or anything?...he hesitated...

Warren...

Ok, ok...

She sprinkled him...

"That's it?..." he looked at Buffy...

That's it...Amy nodded...

"But you're sure...?"

Either it works...Or it doesn't...But...

"She could still find another way if she wants to kill us...This only keeps her from killing us the

usual vamp way...I told you..." Amy stared at him...

So...Be absolutely sure about this...

Absolutely sure...she stared over at the prone Buffy...Now stirring very faintly...

Yeah...I'm sure...Warren nodded...Lets take the bitch out once and for all...

"Come on..." she returned to the little vamp guard...Who'd continued to watch them carefully...

Here's your big chance...Are you gonna blow it?...

Cause she wakes up in ten seconds...nine...

"What!..." Warren cried...

"Then lets get the hell out of here..."

Yeah...Guess we'd better...Amy nodded...

"Bye, pal..." Warren chuckled...Halting and watching as the little vamp bent over Buffy...

And...Thanks...

Well...Halfreck eyed Dawn as they stood in the Summers' backyard...

"We are one clever little girl, aren't we?..."

You killed William...Dawn glared...

You murdered my...Gulp...brother-in-law...

"Please..." Haly waved a hand...

You weren't even a figment of the monks' imagination then...

But you did it, Halfreck...Dawn grimly stared at the "justice" demon...

"All I did..." Haly paused...

Was to carry out your sister's...Cicely's...Wish...

Your wish too, dear...If we take your being part of dear Cicely-Buffy literally...

"Buffy...Cicely...Would never have wished Will dead...Never!..."

Did I say she wished him dead?...Or even Undead...Haly smiled...

"She wished...For a simple life again..."

One uncomplicated by dear Willy's presence...

"And I gave it to her...Even sparing her the unpleasant task of dealing with William herself..."

She called on me, Dawny...I didn't pop in on her on a lark...

"You tricked her...Somehow..."

Moi...? Haly eyed her...

And what about Dru...? Dawn glared again...

"Was that Cicely's wish?..."

Can't help what Fate has in store, sweetie...I guess the Powers That Be just wanted to put their seal

of approval on my work...

"Heck...No one here seems very broken up about that poor girl...Drusilla..." Haly noted...

And no poor soul ever deserved her hideous Fate less...I can tell you...

"Why are you still here, Halfreck?..." Dawn stared at her...

Dawny?...You called me...

"You know what I mean!...Why are you still hanging around Buffy and William...? Especially

now...When they're almost back together..."

You're trying to stop it, aren't you?...she looked narrowly at the demon...

Screw things for them again, somehow...

"No need for that...Now...Sweetie..." Haly grinned...

What?...

Well...I've answered your question about Cicely...So, wish granted...she waved her arms airily...

"Wait!..." Dawn cried...

What do you mean...No need...?

Must run...Places to see...People to mete out justice too...Haly smiled...Vanishing...

The little guard waited...

Buffy opened her eyes and blinking, rose...

"You...?" she stared at him...Rubbing her head...

You're the one from the other night...The guard vamp, right?...

He nodded, grinning feebly...

She looked around jerkily...Something...

Voices...In her head...All trying to tell her...Warn her...Demand...

But...She was ok...Just stunned a mo...she shook her head to clear it...

I'm in the...Cemetery...McGarvey...? she eyed the vamp...

Yeah...he nodded...We spoke earlier, remember...?

Strange...she's not quite...he thought...

She's...So normal...?

"Yeah...I remember now..." Buffy got up...

I was fighting demons...But a human was here...

A human I know...Pretending to be...Someone else...

She looked at the guard...Who seemed a tad guilty-looking...And a bit...Confused himself...

"Where did they go?...The ones who knocked me out?"

Don't know...the guard shook his head...

"One of them...Was human..." she struggled to think clearly...

Your partner?...she eyed the vamp...

"I didn't know Bill all that well..." he pleaded...

The other one was human too...The girl...

The witch...he eyed her...

Girl?...Witch?...she stared at him...Staggering on her feet...Like a newborn calf...

Angry demanding voice in her head...Why were they still here?...It was her time at last...

"I won't go...We won't go...We mustn't go..." she whispered aloud...

William...Help me...Oh, God...Not now...not now...Please...she whispered...

I can't go now...We can't go...William needs us...

Oh...God...Have mercy on me!...On us!...A voice cried out in her head...

"Slayer?..." the guard stared...

This wasn't right, somehow...

But then...He rarely transformed people...

And never a Slayer...

"Yeah..." she nodded eagerly...

I am the Slayer...Buffy Anne Summers...That's me...

"I'm also...Cicely Addams Walthrop...Likewise a Slayer...Did you know that?..." she nervously

asked the puzzled vamp...

Reincarnated...And resurrected...

"It takes a toll..." she noted...

Ummn...Yeah...I guess...the guard nodded...Now a leetle uncertain...

What's going on here?...Maybe best not to bring up the new family tie just yet...

In fact...He'd feel a lot better if his new "daughter" would go away and get on with her new "life"...

Best to humor her mood a little...If she still wants to believe she's human, well...

"Those...People who attacked you?...They left that way..." he pointed to the gate down a row of

headstones...

Great...Thanks...I'll get after them...she looked over at the gate...Began moving off...

And halted...Turning back, she hurried over to the guard...He stopped...

"I'm the Slayer, you know...Buffy Summers...The Slayer..." she insisted...Almost...Pleading...

Ummn...Yeah...the guard agreed...

Some people just need a little time, he reflected within...

Sure...he nodded...The Slayer...

"And this is what I do..." she staked the guard...

Something's wrong...Amy shook her head...Lowering her night goggles as she stood by her partner

at a side gate...

"Gee..." Warren glared at her...

You caught that too, eh...

"She just killed a vamp...The good ole Slayer way...!"

"She's...Fighting it somehow...Her soul is hanging on..." Amy pondered...And knelt down,

spreading out her hands...Stretching the fingers out in a wide circle...

I don't understand it...

"Well, I do..." Warren sneered...

"Super-witch gave her some special charms or something...She's been protected all the time...And

you never caught it..."

No...Amy insisted...That's not it...All she had was that amulet...I'd have felt anything else...I'd feel it

now...

There's no special protection around her...

But...

"Look..." Amy pointed at the ghostly image now forming around Buffy...As the Slayer dazedly

walked away from them...Towards the main cemetery entrance...

It's her aura...Her human aura...The blue mists...

I see...Two?...Warren stared through his goggles...Amy rising to look through hers...

Am I seein' double?...he looked at her...

"It should be the one, right?..."

It should be none, now...Amy noted...

Her soul should be off to either Heaven or limbo...

Limbo?...

"Sometimes a departing soul gets trapped...Or can't make the grade direct to Heavenly peace...Or

Hellish suffering...And Limbo is the interdimensional void between all realms..."

But she's not moving...? Warren eyed his partner...

No...And there's someone...Something...With her...

Another soul...Or part of one...

"Two Buffies in one?..." Warren looked at Amy...

I'm as clueless as you are, Warren...she sighed...

"Maybe...Her mom...Joyce...Is trying to help her..."

So...Your little plan failed...he groused...

And Willow will be home in a few days...Sooner, now...Once Buffy calls her...

"Buffy's started her transformation...Partially...Warren...We got that far..." Amy eyed him...

We just have to see if her demon is strong enough to break through...It must be a powerful one...

"Isn't there anything you can do...?...To drive Mommie or whoever away...?"

"I'll have to see...I don't know..."

She paused, looking at him sheepishly...

I wasn't expecting this, Warren...I wasn't prepared for it...

"I'm sorry..."

Sorry...? he glared...

"Babe...Sorry doesn't cut it...Do you know what you've done to me?...If she calls Willow

home...?" he raged at her...

"I didn't mean to...Warren...Please...I..."

She doesn't know we're involved...Amy pointed out...We're safe for now...

Maybe...In time...As she makes her first kills...

"I'll find a way to straighten it out...Just give me a chance..." she pleaded...

Please...

Ok...he calmed...Ok...

"Lets work the problem...Straighten it out..."

I will...Amy nodded...

There's no danger yet...And we are protected against her...she noted...

Just...Give me a little time, Warren...

Deathwishes...Part XVIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XVIII...

"Xander...? Do you know where Anya is?...I need her right now..." Dawn hissed into her cell

phone...As she stood in the Summers' backyard...

"She's gone Dawn...Off to D'Hoffryn's place..."

Rats...Oh...

"Say?...That mean you guys are back together?..."

She's talking to him about something else...he replied...A bit sadly...And somewhat evasively, she

noticed...

"Xander...I gotta see her...It's about Halfreck...You know...That crazy..."

Halfreck?...

"Dawn...What about Halfreck?...She didn't come to you again, did she?..."

Ummn...No...Dawn replied, a little brightly...

Ummn...See...

"I...Kinda..."

Summoned her...

"You what?..." he cried...

"But it was Slayer business..." she insisted...

Well...Summers' family business...

"Dawn!...She might've killed you!..."

Or you might've killed millions...With a bad wish...

"She was Cicely...For one night...In 1880, Xander..."

She drove Will off...Dawn continued...For Buffy...er Cicely, she claimed...

He sighed...

"Yeah...We know..." he muttered...

What?...

"She was here...Anya was talking to her..."

Will told An that Halfreck looked like Cicely...That Spike had known her...An put two and two

together...It's why she's with D-H now...he explained...

"She's trying to get what info she can out of him...Maybe get him to force Halfreck to come back

and tell us the rest..." he continued...

"The rest...?" Dawn asked into the phone...

"Why Cicely called on her...And..."

Drusilla...he replied...

William reached the McGarvey cemetery main gate...Amy and Warren and their "allies" as well as

Buffy now gone...

Slayer scent...Or Buffy scent...Hard to tell now with the soul and all which he was registering...

Probably both...

He entered cautiously...

Quiet as...Well, naturally...

Still...Didn't they just upgrade security round these parts...?

"Buffy?..." he called...

"Cicely...?"

Had to admit...Rather nice to be using that name...Without accompanying curse words...For the first

time in so long...

He stared round...All quiet...

Whoa...He tripped, stepping in Phil's empty guard's uniform...

Hmmn...Ashes in a security guard's suit...

Nice to see one of them finally showed a little imagination in its encounter with the Slayer...

Even better to have the best evidence of its failure to fool her...

"Buffy...?" he called...

Lovely...Crying out after her...Begging her to take some notice of me...

The wheel turns and we're back to 1880...

Hmmn...

Another guard's uniform...With...?

He lifted Warren's fat pads...And eyed the wax makeup bits scattered by it...

Sniffing...Hmmn...

Unless I've lost everything vampiral in regaining my soul...I'd say this was a human's outfit...

A trick-or-treating human's outfit...

And this being Sunnydale...Definitely no treats involved...

A human?...Passing as a cemetery guard...?

His or her uniform...Next to a vampire likewise doing the same...

And no Cicely...Buffy around...

Pity Dru couldn't choose right now to pay a call...Could use her skills just now...

And give her peace immediately afterward...

Oops...He looked down...Where the grass was matted and pulled...

As if something or someone had been dragged across it...

A hair clip...Nice one...

Buffy's...he realized...

He looked around...

The cloud of fear was freezing solid around his heart...

Just like the Powers That Be...Bastards...To...

And I let her go...Without...

After she told me...What I've waited to hear for a hundred years...

And that's not some fool songwriter/poet's exaggerated angst...

"Joyce...Please...Help me..."he prayed...

Well, he certainly wasn't about to call on the white-bearded One...That comical jackass...

Who was no doubt rolling in his chair, hooting over this one...

Screwed them yet again...he must be telling his crew of...

Angels...

Why did I let her go like that?...After she told me...

He rubbed his head...

Focus, Walthrop...

Time you made use of the little gifts poor ole Dru gave you...

He picked up her faint trail and began following it off the grounds...

There I am...Buffy smiled at the store front window...

See...No problem...

Just a little...Tired?...

More like...Hungry?...she stared at the hollow-eyed, tense face looking back...

Deep shadows flitting across it...

Course...The reflection stuff is all hooey...But if a vamp's human soul believed...It's like the crosses,

churches, and holy water...Sorta psychosomatic...

Anyway...While there's nothing to worry about...It's a good sign of normality...

Alls well...

I was just...Groggy...Disoriented...

She wandered along...Slipping into a fog...

Late she suddenly realized...Getting near dawn in fact she came to with a start...

Have I been walking all night?...

God...I gotta call Dawn...she looked for her cell phone...

Tell her I'm fine...Which I am...Just a little woozy

Anyway...I'll be in the light soon...

With nothing to fear...Walking home safe in the light of day...

My poor William...

A scream from up ahead...Whoops...she put the phone back...

First things first...

Better yet...she told herself...Better yet...

A victim in need of a Slayer heroine...

A human Slayer...

A terrified young brunette woman dragged into the basement of an old building up the street...Held

firmly by her now rather less charming escort...

Very poor dating choice...

But, a low self-esteem type with a few extra pounds...She'd been flattered when he'd asked her to a

private rendevous so politely a few hours ago at the Bronze...

Though one must note, Buffy thought as she halted on the basement stairs...From his pov...

The vamp was sincere in his affection...To go to all this trouble, risking the dawn, dragging her

down here...

Clearly he had something permanent in mind...

And was in fact in the middle of whispering an offer to his date...

Buffy jumped down behind him...Grabbed him, whirling him round...

He raged for an instance, then saw the famed Slayer in front of him...

Uh-boy...

Say?...Wait a minute...

"Slayer...?" he gasped, eyeing her as his date huddled fearfully on the basement floor...

You're...One of...?

He dusted as Mr. Pointy found his mark...

"Well..." she smiled at the girl...

Guess that's that...

"Who..." the girl gasped...Rising to her feet, taking Buffy's arm...

What was that?...

"A vampire..." Buffy said matter of factly, looking at her...

Something about her...Such a...Healthy...young woman...

Full of life...

She blinked...Catching the young woman clearly getting a leetle nervous at her intense stare...

"A vampire..." she continued... "Fangs...Demon essence inside...Wants your blood...On occasion,

might, if he were in a good mood and...Lonely...Offer you what he'd claim was eternal life..."

The girl stared at her...

"It's true...Town's full of them...Best to accept it and take a few extra precautions at night...And

with your choice of dates..." she smiled...

If I...Just as a joke, of course...Came over to her...And took her hands...And made as if I were going

to...

Just to make her realize how dangerous things can be around here at night...I...No...What am

I...Thinking?...

Please...God, no...Not now...

Mother, help me...Tell me it's all right...

I couldn't be...I saved her...I'm just...

"Yeah..." Buffy repeated... "Best to take lots of extra precautions at night..."

"Thanks..." the girl backed away a bit...

Frightened?...Of me?...Buffy stared at her...

"Why don't I see you outta here?..." she smiled...

I have a way with vamps...You saw...she grinned a bit...

Ummn...the girl shook her head...

"I'm fine...I'll just get going..."

"Don't be afraid of me..." Buffy told her...Staring deep into her...

"You're not afraid of me...I just saved you..."

"Please ..." the girl tried to break away from her stare...But somehow, couldn't...Though she

continued to try to back away...Towards the stairs...

"You're not afraid..." Buffy intoned...

No...No...Oh Mom...God...Help me...Stop me...

The girl stopped, staring at her...Trembling...Unable to break away...

"Come here..."

"Buffy!..." Xander called from the basement stairs...

Buf...? he saw her, a girl standing near her...

Xander...? Buffy looked at him...

The girl let out a gasp and backed away from the now startled?looking Slayer...Then turned and ran,

passing him...

"Hihowareya?..." he called out to her hastily as she zipped by him...

Buffy...he sighed at her...

"Dawn's been frantic..."

How did you...? she looked at him...And after the fleeing girl...

"Traced your cell phone signal...Little trick Willow taught me once..." he eyed her...

You might answer your phone once in a while...he noted, frowning...

"Anything wrong?..." he turned to Buffy...

Vampire...she shook her head...

I got him, but...

Scared her, I guess...

"One vamp...Kept you out all night...?" he stared at her...

She looked so...Hunted...

Almost as if...

"Is it day yet?..." she asked...Eagerly...

He mustn't think...He can't think...I'll prove it...

He nodded...Staring at her...

"Lets get out of here, Xander...Now..." she insisted...

Up into the light...

Ok...he nodded, but paused...

"You ok?..."

"Just need some air..." she hurried to the stairs...

Some light...

"Well...Hey, wait...Buffy!..." he called to her as she raced past him...

Gotta get out of here...Gotta get out...Into the light...

I'll be Buffy...Cicely...In the light...

Mustn't stay down here...With Xander...

She ran out into a somewhat cloudy day...Xander's faint cries fading behind her...

No burns...No flames...Oh...Thank God...Thank you God...she sighed...

The sun peeped through a blocking cloud...she raised her arm to it...

Ok...she nodded...No flames...

Oh...she felt a mild burn...Not a flame-out, nothing like it...But...A bit quick for a sunburn...

No...No...It's nothing...Just strong sun...she told herself...

As she hurried towards a corner drugstore...

"Not a thing to worry yourself about Nibs..." William spoke into his cell phone...

Unless you don't make it to school this morning...he sternly added...

Dawn having called him for the fourth time since waking to find no Buffy...

"Spike...Ummn, sorry...Will..."

I told you what Halfreck said...she paused...

"Halfreck says a lot of things...She's a vengeance demon...They like to mess with your mind..." he

noted...

"Why won't she answer her phone?..." Dawn wailed a bit...

Well...Nibs...Be hard for her to call you with you talking to me, eh?...

And maybe the batteries have run down...You lot do more than your share of gabbing you know...

"Dawn..." he hesitated... "If I could be out there..."

I know...she replied...

Thanks...

"Xander's trying to find her...Trace her phone..."

Ah...he smiled into the phone...

Problem solved with our man Harris on the job...

She sighed...

"He will find her, Dawn...Intact...As always..."

"I was out looking for her last night..." he admitted...

Guess she didn't want to be found just then...But lots to think over...Work out...For her...

And me...he noted...

"Guess it must be hard for you too..." Dawn paused...

Nibs?...

"Being the husband of a Slayer, I mean..."

"It's gonna be all right...It's gonna be fine..." Buffy told herself...A mantra she repeated over and

over as she paced the drugstore where she'd taken refuge...

Sun was just a mite too strong today...Must be that ozone hole thing...

But nothing...she looked at her arms...Strong sunburn, no flaming...See...Alls well...

If I were...If...

Well, I'm not burned up...So I can't be...

I can't be...Not now...Oh, God...Not now...

"You buying somethin' Miss?..." the clerk at the counter eyed her...

Yeah...she nodded and bought three bottles of the strongest sunscreen they had...highest UV

protection grade...Plus an umbrella...

Deathwishes...Part XIX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XIX...

Well...Will thought...As he put away his cell phone...Looking around the old house he'd taken

refuge in...As the dawn had crept up on him during his all-night search...

The same old house where he...Well, Spike...and he, hovering round...And Buffy...Had first...

Sturdy old place to still be standing...

Light peeping through some of the boards blocking the windows...Trapping him unless he chose to

call on Harris or his rabbitphobe demon girl for rescue...

This is another fine mess you've gotten me into...Cicely...

Another ring...

"Will!..." Dawn's voice...Fifth time...

"Xander found her...Traced her cell phone..."

Oh...

Well...My vampiral supersenses are just off due to the human soul thing he thought...

"She ran away from him...!...Wouldn't stay...!"

He said...She looked...Strange...Dawn nervously added...

Ok...Will replied...Tensing a bit...

How...Strange?...

"She looked...Odd...He said...And she ran off into the street...But nothing else..."

Into the light, eh?...Phew...he thought...

Not that he'd worried about it...Just...The PTBs have such a joyful, ironic sense of

humor...Would've been right up their alley...

Could be some venom stuff again, right?...Dawn hastily asked...Making her a little crazy?...

"Maybe, Nibs..."

"Or...Maybe..." Dawn hesitated...

Maybe Cicely's driving her a leetle over the edge...All those old memories coming back...? You

think?...she asked hopefully...

"That's likely, Niblett...But where did he find her?..."

Cross and Merriweather...Old office building there...Fighting some vamp...Just after dawn...

"She went outside, Will...He said she wasn't..."

Burning or anything...

"Of course not, girl...Our Slayer?...My Buffy-Cicely?...To some nobody vamp?...Not a chance..."

"Are you in your new place?...I could have Xander get you...Maybe the two of you could find

her?..."

No, not at home...he replied...Looking around...Whoops...A few light shafts now moving his way,

slowly...

"Actually I'm a coupla blocks from Merriweather...In an old house...And yeah, having ole Harris

pick me up...With some coats or blankets...Might not be a bad thought at that..."

But, Nibs...As to Buffy...Just have Xander ask Anya to go...Even he should've thought of that...

"She's still with D'Hoffryn...Or maybe Halfreck...Trying to get some info..."

Oh...he affected a causal air...

Halfreck?...

"About that night, Will..." Dawn explained...

What?...he lost the causal air...

You know...Why Cicely...she hesitated...

Halfreck?...

"Halfreck was there, Will..."

"I see..." he replied...Closing his eyes...

Why don't I just go walk into that large light shaft?...he told himself...

Of course Halfreck looked like Cicely...She was there...

It was her...She took Cics' place...

Such a bright wife I had...Called on a vengeance demon to help get rid of me...With exemplary

success...

Until just a few years ago...

He stared at the light shafts...Now slowly widening...

"Will...?" Dawn was a bit...

Maybe mentioning Haly and dredging up the past wasn't the best thing just right now...

She heard him sigh...

"Well...See if Harris can possibly get over here...We can do that cell phone tracking thing

together...And if Anya shows, have her go to Buffy at once..."

Right...Sis?...he finished...

She smiled and he could feel it over the phone...

"Right...Bro..."

Hmmn...Guess I'm forgiven...he thought...

And have a little sister again...At last...

Whoa...Practical matters, Walthrop...he noted a new light shaft springing open near him...

And moved toward better shelter...

Wish I'd requested a human body along with soul back in Africa...he sighed...

"So..." Warren frowned as he and Amy sat in her apartment...

Lets review...

"Our immediate goal was achieved in part...Buffy was taken, a handy vamp gave her the once-

over...She began transformation...Her demon is now present in her body..."

But...Something...Or someone...Blocked the process...Kept her soul in the body, preventing a full

transformation...

Amy nodded sheepishly...

"Unforeseeable I guess..." Warren sighed... "It not involving magics protection and all..."

Not your fault, babe...he generously conceded...

"But what the hell do we do now?..."

Buffy is sure to get in touch with Willow asap...Willow will come home from New York asap...

And the shit will hit the fan big time...

"Should we just go...Warren?" Amy looked at him...

He'd need me...If we went now...With Willow hunting for whoever...He wouldn't risk leaving me...

"We haven't exhausted everything yet, babe...You said you could fix it, remember?" he frowned at

her...

I can try...she nodded...

"Maybe...If I can push Buffy...and the other...Down a bit...Maybe the demon could take control..."

she noted...

Excellent...Warren beamed...A solution...

What I like to hear...

"But...Warren...She will be very dangerous...And a direct spell on her...By me...Might be

traceable..."

You protected us against her, right?...he noted...

Yeah...But...

"Well...She could have Willow trace that too, right?..."

I suppose...Amy sighed...But she'd have less reason to look for someone having done a protection

spell...

"'Sides..." Warren grinned... "When vamp Buffy gets going...Willow will have more to worry about

than hunting for us..."

And that's what you wanted...Right, babe?...To make Willow feel the pain...?

"You finish things with Buffy...And Willow will feel it...And she'll be alone...Just as you wanted..."

he eyed her...

And then...If all goes well with our negotiations with the new Queen of the Damned...

A new Trio will rule Sunnydale...

And Willow will be dead...

"Thanks, ole pal..." William smiled at a frowning Xander...As he pulled on one of several coats

Xander had brought to him...

Don't mention it...Xander glared...

I mean that...

"Nibs gave you quite a time over fetching me, eh?..." Will grinned...

Xander's phone rang...Third time since he'd reached the house...

"Yeah...Dawn, I told you...I'm here...I got him...We're heading out..."

He handed the phone to Will...

"Tell her..."

"Still dead and kickin' Nibs..." Will grinned into the phone...

Harris is still showing that noble self-restraint with me...

"Anything more from Anya...Halfreck?" he asked...

Nervously...Xander noted...

Ok...We'll move out...You get off to school...

"We'll find her, sis..." Will finished...

Sis...? Xander stared at him...As he handed back the phone...

"Something nasty on my teeth, Harris?..." he grinned...

Xander grumbled, looking away...

"Lets go...If you're going..."

"Oh yeah...Gotta see what the Missus is up to..."

Xander glared...Will putting on several coats and some gloves he'd provided...

He paused...

"Say...Xan...You know...Cics and I will be planning a rededication ceremony...Renewal of wedding

vows, that sort of thing..."

Xander's glare rose to white heat...

It's what Victorians do, you know...

"And I was wondering if you'd be willing to consider...Doing us the great honor..."

"Don't push the soul thing, William..." Xander grumbled...

I will only accept it so far...Whoa...

He blinked...

"Were you asking me to be your...Best Man?..."

Well...Will grinned...

Xander rolled his eyes...

"Do not push the soul thing...Spike..."

He led the now heavily wrapped Will up to the street entrance...

Ummn...he paused as they reached the car...

"Yeah...Yes..." he eyed Will...

If Buffy...Cicely...Really...

Wants to...

"Thanks, Harris..." William nodded...Formally offering a hand...

As a Victorian gentleman should...

"Now...Anyanka..." D'Hoffryn frowned at Anya...

As they stood in the misty Great Hall of his abode...The cries of the vengefully...And, to a

reasonable extent, justly...Tormented echoing through the place...

"D-H..." she glared...

This is not like you to be so evasive...What was Haly up to in 1880?...

"Sweetheart...Client confidentiality, remember?...One of the bedrock principles of our

organization..."

"Buffy would be happy to give me authorization...You know that...And she is Cicely, right?...So..."

D'Hoffryn eyed his favorite demon, sighing...

Such a loss to the realm...But he'd suspected even from the moment she'd rejoined the old firm that

her heart just wasn't in dispensing that Old Testament style wrath anymore...

Poor kid...A terrible thing to develop human ties...Even in the case of the Slayer...

So transitory...Although of course there is the immortal soul thing...

How to tell her...? Gently...That the case of Cicely Addams Walthrop/Buffy Summers had taken a

new and tragic turn...

At least from the human pov...

And a loss to him as well...A century of hard work to obtain his first Slayer-Vengeance

demon...Down the drain...It being highly unlikely that an independent vamp demon like Anne would

accept his offer of employment...

And yet...He had to be firm...Principles are principles...

Which offered him...A compassionate and sensitive employer by his lights...An easy out to avoid

hurting his poor favored one...

"Anyanka...The answer's still no...I cannot tell you about the case..."

All right then...Anya frowned...

"I'll do it the hard way...I'm sure Buffy will have a preety good case to make for employing me to

seek out Haly..."

Anyanka?...D'Hoffryn gasped...

"You'd perform vengeance on one of our own?..."

Like a shot...she nodded...

Unless...

Hmmn...She has that face...D'Hoffryn noted...

The face that cursed ten thousand souls...A year, at her peak...

All right...he sighed...

"Go to the archives in my storeroom...Tell Philip to let you review the Farris-Addams contract, circa

1880...Show him this..." he handed her a medallion, with his personal seal...

But Anyanka...he frowned...As far as I know...You "borrowed" my medallion while we talked...

That I agreed to do this...Remains between us...Forever...

Or your Mr. Harris receives a most unwelcome visit...From me...Personally...

"Absolutely..." she beamed...Wait?...

Farris-Addams?...

"Her old Watcher...You'll understand when you review the contract..." he eyed her...

Poor, poor kid...he thought...

Not a very pleasant homecoming awaiting her...

"George's Pharmacy...?" the clerk at the drugstore had decided to finally pick up Buffy's cell

phone...Left behind...Deliberately by Buffy as she left...

Not quite ready to have Xander track her down just yet...

"What?..." Xander stared at the phone...

Who is this...?

"This is George's Pharmacy, friend...Your ladyfriend left her phone here a while ago..."

What...? Will stared at Xander...Carefully avoiding a look out the car window at the sun...Even with

the UV?resistant dark glasses Xander had provided...

"She left her phone at some drugstore..." he hastily whispered...Turning back to the phone...

"Where is your place?...he asked the clerk...

Ok...We'll be right over...

"If she drops by for the phone, ask her to wait...?"

He hung up and looked at William...

"Why would she leave the phone?..."

She didn't want us to trace her...Will nodded thoughtfully...

Something's wrong...

"But..." he eyed Xander..."You said she went into the light...Just ran off, right?"

Yeah...

"It could be as the Nibs thought...Another drugging...Or, maybe...She needed some time...To think

things over..."

"Dawn..." Xander replied...Frowning...

"She'd never let Dawn worry like this...You were right the first time, Will...Something's

happened..."

William stared at him...

"Take me home, Xander...Then head over to the drugstore..."

Xander eyed him...He shrugged...

"I'm no use to you in daylight...Besides...If anything serious has happened, we'll need someone in

one place to make calls, wait for Anya, that sort of thing...In fact...I'd like to place a call to

Willow...And then Giles asap..."

And...If something has happened...She might come to me there, rather than go home or to the rest of

you...

"Ok..." Xander nodded, starting the car and pulling out...

"I mean a drugging...Something like that..." Will added... "Maybe Amy caught up to her and turned

her into a rat...Slowly this time..." he smiled...

You know Buf...She'd either insist on trying to fight the drug or whatever off...Or, if the rat

thing...Be much too embarrassed to face us...Once those whiskers started popping out...

Yeah...Xander nodded...Grinning slightly back...

"It'll be fine, whatever it is...Nothing our girl can't handle..." Will noted...

Back from the dead...Three times, if you count my Cicely...he pointed out...

Nothing she can't handle...he repeated...

Yeah...Xander nodded again...Eyes firmly on traffic...

Can't be serious...Can't be...Another little hallucinatory experience at worst...he told himself...

He eyed William a sec...

God couldn't be so cruel...Not after all He's let happen to them...

"I'd bet she's just trying to think things through...Will..."

Probably at home...Or your place...Already...

Please...God...Cut them a break this once...he prayed silently...

They reached Will's new cemetery...Greenwood...Xander helping him back through the rows of

stones to his crypt...

No sign of Buffy...

"I'll send Anya over to you as soon as she gets back..." Xander told him...

Ditto, if she come here first...Will nodded...And paused as Xander began heading out...

"Don't be a bloody fool about that girl, Harris..." he called...

She's the best thing that will ever happen to you...

"Don't let your fears kill your future...They can, you know..."

I'm Unliving proof...he smiled wanly...

"Your story's not over yet, Will..." Xander smiled back...

But...Thanks...


	2. Chapter 2

Deathwishes...Part XX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XX...

I've just got to concentrate, Buffy thought...Moving down Westfield St...Towards downtown

Sunnydale...Holding her umbrella firmly in hand...

I'm fine...I just have a leetle UV sensitively this morning...No flaming, see...She stuck a hand out to

the sun...

A mild tingling, moving rapidly to a sunburn...But no flames...

This is some trick...Someone trying to unhinge me...Like the games Warren and his nerds used to

play...

Trying to make me think...

William...I've got to get to William's place...

"Buffy...!" a voice hissed...From the alley to her left...

She turned...Anya in human face...Waving her into the alleyway...

"I've just gotten back from D'Hoffryn's palace...His archives..." Anya told her...

"Buffy...Cicely...You didn't kill William..."

What...?

"I mean..." she paused...

You didn't send him to Drusilla so that she killed him...In 1880...

"It was Halfreck..."

By the way...Anya looked at the umbrella...What's with...?

Seems a little cloudy but...

"Halfreck...?" Buffy stared at her...Moving closer...

Yeah...Anya nodded, excitedly resuming the tale...She took your place that night...After you

summoned her...

"I...Summoned her...?"

No...Buffy shook her head, anger building in her eyes...

Anger...Anya noted...And...something else...

"I didn't kill William!..."

"No...I told you...You didn't...She drove him off for you...And Dru was waiting for him...Primed by

Haly to wait in the alleyways near your place...In London..." Anya stared at her...

There's more...she began...

"I think there was a conspiracy...Between your own Watcher at the time and Haly...I think they

made you believe you were saving..." she stopped...Suddenly...

Oh, my God...she gasped...

"What is it, Anya...?" Buffy asked coldly...

You...Oh, Buffy...Oh, no...Anya backed away...

It's a lie...It's all lies!...Buffy insisted...Still moving up on her...

"I didn't want Will to go...And I am Buffy...And Cicely...No one...Else..."

She's here...Anya stared at her friend...Who glared back...

"You can't hide her from me, Buffy..." she told her quietly...

Concentrate, concentrate...Must teleport...Now...she thought...

Buffy grabbed her...Holding her tightly...Another demon...Like Halfreck...Trying to ruin

everything...

"It's a lie!...A lie!..."

Can't...Let...Her...Go...Can't...Let...Her...

Tell...

Oh, God...God!...Help me...Mom...Help me, William!...No!...

"Xander!..." Anya screamed...As Buffy sank her fangs into her neck...

She's not dead...She can't be dead...Buffy repeated to herself...Over and over...

Wandering towards the Greenwood cemetery where William's new crypt lay...

She was still breathing...

I should have called Xander...I...Oh...God, what have I done...?

She looked at the sky from under her umbrella...Fewer clouds now...

I'm not a monster...I'm not...Anne...

Not Anne alone...We...Cicely...I...Are still here...

But she's here now...I feel her...She...

Oh, Anya...she closed her eyes...And felt the blood on her tongue...

I left her there for dead...And ran...

But was it Anne?...Or...

Who's the monster, Buffy?...The demon killing by instinct or the human killing to cover her

presence...?

She'll kill them all, Will too...They'll all die, hating me...

As William died hating me...

Then why don't I kill myself?...Before it's too late...

Isn't that what I always told myself I'd do...If it ever happened to me...Before the demon...Before

Anne drove me out, the Slayer would the right thing and stake herself...

I'd never allow a demon to take me...Become a Drusilla...Not me...Not the Slayer...

She'd never be so weak...Like...All the ones I kill...

But I did let a demon take me...I let Spike have me...And now...Anne is taking me...

No...It was William...Calling to me...I never loved Spike...Cicely heard Will calling...

But Anne does, as much as a demon can...As much to spite us as for anything else...She wants

him...And to get him...William will have to...Go...

Again...

I can't die now...Abandon him again...I can't let her win...No...Cicely and I...We have fought too

long for William to give up now...

But...Am I already dead?...she stared out at the cemetery...

Am I already...Home...Again...?

No...I won't play her game...I am still here...I am still alive...And Anya was still breathing...And is a

demon again...She'll make it...

I'll find a phone, call Xander...Make him understand...I...We just lost control for a moment...

Or did we...Did we all attack Anya?...To stop her...

Will has a phone...I'll find his place...Tell him...She was attacked...

I don't have to say by who...Not yet...

He stared at her as she folded the umbrella, just inside...

Hi...she tried to smile at him...

"Just wanted to see how you were doing?...Not a bad time...?"

No...he replied...Eyeing her carefully...

I thought you might be able to squeeze me into your social calendar...she stepped into the main room

of the crypt's ground floor...he following...

"Taking extra weather precautions, Slayer?..." he looked back at the umbrella...

Radio said chance of rain...she avoided his gaze...

"Dawn's been calling me...Every fifteen minutes..." he eyed her...

Where the hell...?

"I had a rough night..."she interrupted him hastily...

I'll call Dawn in a bit...If you could lend me...

He handed her his phone...

"The clerk at that drugstore told us you left your phone behind...He seemed to think it was

deliberate..."

Cell phones...I'm not used to carrying one yet...Easy to lay 'em down...

Yeah...he nodded...Staring...As she sat on the central slab of three in the center of the room...

"Aren't you going to call her?..."

In a minute...she put the phone beside her...

"So...No...Tea and cookies for the Mis...ummn...For me...?" she smiled...Still avoiding his gaze...

Haven't had a chance to stock my shelves...Cicely...he replied quietly...

She looked up at him, beaming a little at the "Cicely"...And seeing a cold, appraising stare...Turned

away, nervously as he came over to her...

"Look at me..." he took her hands...

"There's blood on your sleeves, Buffy..."

I...She stared at the blood on her blouse sleeves...Anya's blood...

Well...William smiled at her coolly...Folding his arms...Eyeing the bloody sleeves...

"Looks like you're beneath me at last...Cicely..."

What...?

"She's all over you..." Will looked at her...

She...?

Anne...he replied...At least I think I've got the right name, eh?...

"No..." she backed away...

You're...Crazy...

Angry at me...Trying to hurt me...she turned away...

This was...she eyed the blood...

A demon's...

Literally true, she noted to herself...

"Your hands are like ice..." he told her...

She trembled, staring at him...William...

And tried to pull herself together, managed a weak glare...

"I...Am not..."

She backed away...Staring at him...

"So...The Slayer's finally had her bad day..." he eyed her...

And just like I told you...I'm here to watch...

No...she shook her head...No...

"Please..." she gasped... "William...? Don't...Say...That..."

Not true...It's not true...

He just stared at her...

"I...I was outside...In the light..." she trembled, insisting...

"Spike's been outside...When he had to be...Remember, Anne?..."

I...Am...Not...she pleaded...

"Gotta love those Powers That Be..." he muttered bitterly...

Just like them to do this...

"I'm Buffy...Cicely..."

Never thought I'd be glad to be admitting I was the reincarnation of somebody else...

"I'm not Anne...!" she yelled at him...Trembling as she sat on the slab...

You know...he stared at her...

"The odd thing is..."

I'm not registering any howls of delight from ole Spike in here...

I guess he really did love you too, Buffy...

"I'm going home...Thanks for your support, William..." she said coldly, turning to rise...

He raced over, blocking her...

"No, girl...You can't go home..." he insisted...

Buffy...he eyed her...A hair more kindly...

"Get out of my way..." she grimly stared at him...

All right...I'll make you...she frowned...

"You'll hurt Dawn, listen to me...Buffy...Cicely...If there really is anything left of you..."

She swung at him...Sending him flying...And rose...

"I came to you...Will..." she hesitated...

"I came...And this is the best you can do for me...? Mocking me?..."

He picked himself up and moved back to her...

"I told you I loved you..." she eyed him...

"Did you expect that to make it all better...?" he looked at her...

Did you even once...Try to help me?...

"I kept you alive..."

You kept me...Dead...Undead...he corrected...

"This is pointless..." she waved an arm...

I'm all right...And I'm going...home...But she remained where she was...

"I'm not..." she twisted desperately...He just looked at her now, not moving...

No...she looked away, pleading...

No...!

Oh...God...she sobbed, falling to her knees...Oh...Help me, Will...Please, please William...

"Will..." she begged... "I know I have no right to ask...But..."

I loved you...Always...Whatever you may think...

"You abandoned me, Cicely...Why should you expect me to help you, now?..." he eyed her...

I didn't Will...I swear...

I am here...I came back...To find you...To help you...

"Really...?"

A little late, I'd say, dearest...he smiled...

"So...Anne...How do you find "night life"?...The first kill go well?..."

They say the first is always the hardest...

She trembled, staring at him...

"I'm right, aren't I?...Anne was your name, if Spike remembered correctly...Right, love?..."

No...she shook her head frantically...

Not Anne...Not Anne alone...

He stared...

Oh, God...William, don't...Please...she looked at him, pleading...Twisting in shame...

"Don't humiliate me!..." she sobbed...

He turned from her...

It's all been for nothing...he thought...And I have failed her again...

William...

Look at me...she begged...As he walked toward the wall, not turning...

"William!..." she cried...He turned slowly, a cold and embittered look on his face...

All for nothing...

"Is this what I am now?..." she screamed at him...

What you want to see...?

Her face distorted a moment...

"Whine, whine...Listen to them whine..." she grinned at him, the tears still running down her now-

hardening face...Human again, but not Buffy, he realized...

My "sisters"...Well, what you gonna do, eh?...

"It's a leetle unfair, don't you think, Spike?..." she eyed him...

You and Dru never had this when you transformed...

"Though I guess Will is a handful for you now..."

Anne...? he asked...

"In the near-vampiral flesh..." she smiled...

At last...Thought I'd never get my time...

Though it stinks that I have to share with these two...In this ridiculous halfway state...

"So..." she walked about the crypt, watching him carefully...

Hubby?...

"Care to reconsumate our wedding vows?..."

Or should I just kill you right now and send ole Willy boy on his way to Heaven...?

"That might get ole Cics at least packing...And I could drive Ms. Buf out when she's alone if she

doesn't go with her..." she grinned...

See...I'm no expert on reincarnation stuff...she noted, chuckling...Can't tell where Cicely ends and

Buffy begins...

But I'm myself...Alone...

He kept in defensive mode...moving with her...

"Buffy..." he sighed...

"Anne!..." she snapped at him...

No Buffy...No Cicely...!

"I'm sorry, Buffy..." he told her quietly...

"Forgive me...Cicely...Forgive me... " he continued to follow her moves...

I never should have let you go last night...Not without telling you...he paused...

"Sure, Will...Come over here and we'll forgive..." she began, leering...But...

The kindness...In the eyes...

She blinked at him...Her face quavering...

Another distortion...

She gasped...Staggering a bit...Shame-faced...But with joy breaking through...

William...

"You...Believe me...Now?...William...?"

You forgive me...? she stared at him...

"Yes..." he replied simply...

I've always loved you Cicely...I always will...

My nature, I guess...Even Spike, my demon couldn't help loving you...

"Oh...God..." she cried...Collapsing in a heap on the slab in the center of the room, covering her

face...She looked up at him as he came over, taking her hand...

"I bit Anya...Left her in an alley...I don't know...I didn't even check to see if..."

She found out about me...I was afraid the others...Would...

Call Xander...Please...she begged...Tell him...The third alleyway off Westfield and Prescott...

He nodded, and picked up the phone...

Will...Why is God so cruel to us...? she stared at the wall across from her...

"I don't know..." he replied...

Maybe there is no God...

Certainly He doesn't seem like that benevolent, bearded chap they told us about back in Sunday

school...

Xander answered immediately and he spoke to him quickly...Anya attacked by some

creature...Buffy...Injured...Made it to his crypt somehow...

"Is Buffy there now?..." Xander asked, with surprising calm...

Yeah...But she's...

"An and I are in an ambulance on the way to Sunnydale Hospital...She's alive...Or was when she

teleported to me..."

"Did she say anything about...What attacked her...?"

No...Xander replied quietly...Tell Buffy...

"Tell her I'll be coming for her...A little later..."

She calmed a bit...Looking at Will's face...

He knows...she said flatly...Xander knows, doesn't he?...

Anya managed to tell him...

"He didn't say..." Will paused...

But...Yeah...I think he knows...

She sighed...

"There is a Heaven, Will...I saw it..."

Twice...

He nodded...And looked away...

"I think..." she stood up...

"I think I came back...As Buffy, I mean...Because you weren't there...You didn't come to me..."

He turned back to her...

Cicely...

"Will...I didn't hate you...I didn't despise you...Whatever you heard from me that night...I loved

you..."

Please believe that...

"I want to, Buffy..." he stared at her...

I am trying to...

She shook violently a moment...And nearly distorted again...

"She's trying to get through..." Buffy looked at him...

I...We...Can barely hold her back now...

And when the night falls...

"Kill me...Quickly...Will, if you love me..." she begged...

Don't leave me like this...Please...

"I can't do it myself...She's too strong..."

There must be another way, Buffy...he stared at her...

"Let me talk to Giles...Willow...See what can be done..."

She shook her head...

"They'll never help me now...Anya..."

"She may not be dead...She's demon as well as human, Buf..."

I want to die...She eyed him...I can't face Xander...Dawn...She put her face in her hands...

"You can't leave me again...So soon...Cics..." he came over to take her hands...

No...she backed away, putting out an arm...Keep away, Will...She wants to kill you...Release

Spike...

"I don't want to leave you...I didn't want to send you away...I tried to kill Spike the night he

rose...For months afterward, I tried to trace him..."

I tried, darling...I tried...she covered her face with her hands...

"But if I stay now...With her inside...We're going to lose each other...Forever..."

We...Cicely and Buffy...can barely hold her back now...By day...

At night...

"I'll keep her here...She won't harm anyone..." Will told her...

If she tries, I'll stop her...Whatever I have to do...

"Please, Buffy...Cicely...I can't bear losing you again..."

Stay with me a little while...Give me my chance...

"Hell, girl...You didn't even give me a chance to try last time...Did everything your way..."

I deserve my shot...A marriage should be a partnership, you know...

She smiled and laughed a bit...

Yeah...

"You promise...You won't let her harm anyone again...?"

If I have to kill you all to stop her, I will...he told her...And then I'll join you...

Xander?...If he comes...? she eyed him...

If the day has come that I can't restrain Xander Harris without killing him...Will smiled...

"Anyways...for now, lets get you something to quiet that ole bloodlust before Annie makes another

appearance..."

He walked to his new fridge, tapping into the power line kindly opened by Xander...And pulled out

two blood bags, tossing one to her...

"Bon appetit..." he smiled wanly...

"Sorry our first meal together has to be this..."

Our first meal...Alone...Buffy paused, eyeing the bag gingerly...

Was in Henry's cottage...One hundred twenty two years and five months ago...

"We had...Mutton stew, I think..."

He stared at her...

She carefully opened a section of the bag and drank it down hastily...

"How's about some soda...And maybe a little real food?..." he asked her kindly...

She hesitated...

Gets the taste out, love...he noted...

Yeah...she nodded...

"I'd break out the whiskey, girl...but..."

My inhibitions are low enough already...she grinned back...

"Lets go below...You haven't seen the rest of the place since Harris and I fixed it up, anyhow..." he

smiled...Waving her to the stairs in the rear...

"It looked like a nice one when we found it the other night..." she noted as she walked over...

Will...?

"Yes, pet?..." he looked at her by the stairs...

You are a good man...she stared at him...

I always knew you were...

"That's why I married you..."

"Though I hope the poetry has improved..." she grinned...

I think my years with Spike have added a darker touch...he noted...

Deathwishes...Part XXI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXI...

"Nibs...?" William looked at Dawn as she entered the crypt...After making just enough noise to

inadvertently alert him and the now safely hidden Buffy...

What the Hell are you doing here?...What would your sister say...?

"I couldn't reach Xander and Anya..." she looked at him...

I had to find...Someone ...To help me find Buffy...

"I couldn't just go off to school...Wait all day to hear something..."

Anya... Will paused...

Was hurt...In a fight...

She and Buffy fought...A demon...

Harris is taking her over to the hospital now...

"Buffy?..." Dawn gasped...

Ok...She's ok...She was there, but...

"Is she headed for the ER too?..."

No...he shook his head...

Go Dawn...Go now...Buffy thought, listening carefully...

Please God, make her go now...

"She's..." he paused...

She's probably almost home now...She was headed there...

Thank you, Will...Buffy closed her eyes...Thank you, my darling...My kind, loving darling...

Dawn sighed...

Ok...

"But...Will...I have some things to tell you..." she paused...

About...Cicely...she explained...

He stood, watching her...A strange sense coming over him...

He hadn't seen her since...

"What did she look like?..." Dawn eyed him...

He stared back...Hadn't realized...Never saw her clearly though Spike...

"You know...Cicely...The original..." Dawn impatiently frowned at him...

What did she look like?...

I saw a picture through the Internet...she continued...

Will...?

Amelia...he gasped, continuing to stare at her...

"My god...Amelia..." he repeated...

Dawn blinked...

"She looked like...Amelia?..."

Will...? Who's...?

No...he came over to her...She backing away a bit...

Amelia...? Buffy thought below...

His sister...My sister...In-law...

"Don't...Spike..." Dawn hissed...Drawing her arms up...A stake now revealed in her right hand...

No offense...she nodded at the stake...

Just...

"It's ok...Sorry...Nibs..." he put up his hands...

No menace intended...

He continued just looking at her...

Will...? You're freaking me, here, you know that...

"I never realized...I never..."

"Will...Who is Amelia?..."

"My little sister, Nibs...Back in England...1880 England..."

My god...he shook his head...Tears forming...

"You...Are Amelia...Nibs..."

What...? Dawn stared at him...

Formed from Buffy...And Cicely...he noted...

"She didn't forget...Not completely...And somehow..." he bowed his head...

Somehow she had you made in my Melia's image...

Her gift to me...

Not just part of me...Buffy thought below...

Part of us...

I didn't forget...Cicely didn't forget...

The little girl we lost...My poor baby...

Our Amelia...

After recovering from some moderate shock at Will's statement, Dawn passed on the Halfreck-

Cicely story with what details about her session with Haly she could make herself remember...

Still a bit overwhelmed...

Like his sis...?

Buffy remaining below and hidden...

So...Confirmation...she thought...That vengeance bitch did it...That "justice demon" killed my

husband...Drove him to Drusilla...

My "justice demon"...

But...For now, only one thing mattered...

Our daughter...My baby...Back with us...All this time...

And somehow, someway we both knew...She was ours...

"Will...?" Dawn eyed him back up above ground...

Will you...Come home with me...?...Come home to us?...Now...?

He looked at her...

"Not yet Dawn...You and Buffy need time...I need time..."

She shook her head...

"We want you home...I know Buffy wants you with us...Let me call..."

He put up a hand...

"Not yet, Nibs..." But he smiled gently at her...

Not yet...But...Soon...

If she wants me to...If we can find a way...

He grinned at her clouded, sad face...

"Sides, kiddo...You'd have a hell of a time getting me through the sunny streets of Sunnydale right

now..."

She nodded, sighing...

"Will you see us...Tonight?..."

If I can...And she wants me...he nodded...

She got up from the slab where she'd sat and headed for the door...Oh!...

"Anya?...Shouldn't we call?..."

Best to go home, Nibs...he eyed her...

"Buffy can take you..."

Forgive me, Amelia...My darling...Daughter...he thought...

The only lie I hope I will ever tell you...

She came back over to him...Staring a moment...

And kissed him...Smiling shyly...

Welcome home...William...

"Bye..." she waved...Heading out

"The first thing they'll do..."Amy paused, eyeing Warren and their "allies"... As they all sat quietly

in a dark booth of Willie the Snitch's bar...

Is try a demon exorcism...

Zorg nodded thoughtfully...He'd surprised them by not being at all downcast when she and Warren

had met with the four demons here at the prearranged time and Warren had spilled the bad news of

partial failure...

Hell, he was a "glass half-full" kinda guy...Besides he'd never expected them to get this far...Let

alone still have a crack at full victory...

"Can you prevent the witch and the Slayer's sorcerer from driving her demon out?..." he asked...

No and yes...Amy looked at her reference books...Spread out on the booth's table...

"I can't stop them from starting the spell to drive it away...But...I might be able to make use of the

chance it would give..."

The souls' will at their weakest, turned inward to avoid the demon as she is summoned...

There might be just enough time and opportunity to block the souls' hold on Buffy's body and let

the demon take control...

Not a full vampire demon...Not with the human souls still hanging on...But the demon would run the

show...

In fact, she noted...It might be possible to disguise its takeover simply as a failure of the spell to

drive it off...The souls would still be present, just submerged...

"But how do we get the ladies out, Amy...?" Warren eyed her, pressing...

Later, after the demon gains control...Makes her first kills...The souls may give in and flee...Or I

may be able to come up with something to make them leave...

Back above ground, Buffy faced him across a small table...Both seated now...Staring at each

other...He shaking his head slightly...

In wonder...

I...We...Have a daughter...

She took his right hand, lying on the table, gently in hers...Stroking its curves with her fingertips...

"Cicely..." he stared at her...

She smiled and nodded...Knowing...

We have a daughter...Our daughter is with us...We never lost her...

Even...What's happened...Can't...

"I hear something..." Buffy looked at Will sharply...Eyeing the crypt entrance...

He went to the open doorway cautiously, eyeing the bit of light at the edge...

A sudden sharp thwack...Against his chest...

Christ!...he gasped...

He fell back...Pulling...And clutching...a small dart...Staring at her...

"Will?...William?...William!..." Buffy screamed, racing over...

Xander entered as she tried to carry him over to a slab...

Eyeing her coolly...

William staggered and collapsed...

"Xander!..." Buffy stared at him...Struggling to hold the rage back...

"He'll be all right..." Xander looked at her...Dragging a bag over to the table William had brought

up from below...

It's just a tranquillizer...

"We need some time alone..." he eyed Buffy...

"Xander...It's ok..." Buffy gestured for him to hold off...

Ok...? he stared at her...Carefully moving back to his bag on the table...Shaking out several

weapons...

"I know Anya told you...About me...But Will didn't do this..." she explained...Watching him...

He's trying to help me...

"Great...I believe you...And I'm going to make it easy for him..."

He shouldn't hafta see this...Not after all he's been through...

He grabbed at the weapons on the table, selecting a stake...

"Xander...? Wait..." Buffy looked at him...Backing away...

Don't...

"Don't...?...You thing!..." he yelled...

"You still have her blood on your clothes, you bitch!..."

He charged at her and she dodged...

"Stop it, Xander!...Please..." she begged...

We have It under control...she began to explain...

"Sure you do..." he eyed her...Nodding...

Spike loan you his chip?...Guess soul-boy doesn't need it now...

"Or did you two hunt up the gypsy curse...?"

Anya...? she looked at him...

"You didn't quite make it, first time out..." Xander nodded...

Sunnydale Hospital is putting some back in her right now...

"I'm sorry...Xander...Please...Believe me..." she pleaded...

I didn't mean to hurt her...I didn't want to...

I'm trying to control It...

"Great..."

"Let me make that control permanent!..." he lunged at her...

Deathwishes...Part XXII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXII...

Xander halted by the first of the three large slabs in the center of Will's new crypt, breathing heavily

after his last lunge...Buffy standing by the third...Her hands raised in pleading...

"Xander..." she begged...

Don't...She'll kill you...Please...

"I still am Buffy...!..." she cried...

"If you were Buffy...If anything left in there is Buffy...Then you'll stay there and let me finish

this..." Xander furiously stared at her...

Buffy would want to die...To kill this thing...

"William needs me, Xander...I can't die now...Not now...Please!..."

You left her...Bleeding to death...He told her quietly...Shaking with rage...

"If I am...What you think..." she eyed him...Watching his tense movements in the space where he

stood watching her...Waiting for his next moment...

Why didn't I kill her?...

He caught her by surprise, bitterly laughing just for a moment...

"I know you're there, Buffy...Or Cicely...Or both..."

She told me...In the ambulance...At the hospital...

Over and over she kept saying it...he looked at her...

"Don't hurt her...Buffy's soul is still there, Xander..." he quoted...

Still there...With the other...he glared at her...

"And you still did it...Buffy...God..." he groaned...

You...Did it...

To stop her...

"Xander...I couldn't help..."

"It's all been a lie, hasn't it...?" he sighed, interrupting...Looking at her bitterly...

All these years..I believed you were stronger than them...Better than them...

Better than all of us...And we were right to follow you, kill for you...

Without ever trying to help these people...William, Angel, Drusilla, all of them...Seeing them only

as monsters...Because it was so much easier just to kill them...And it was ok...Because they were

weak...They gave in and let themselves be taken, right?...Can't feel for weak people who let

themselves be used for evil, right?...

He moved slowly towards her, watching her movements... "But not you, Buffy...You'd never be

weak, never be tainted...You weren't like them...Like us..."

Even Love wasn't enough to make you pause...Or so you told us until Dawn came...And last year,

when you turned to Spike...

"To William..." she eyed him...Not to...

But in the end... he went on...You're just as weak as any of us...And we've been killing...When we

might have helped...At least tried...

"You couldn't have..."

Hell, if we had died...he continued...All of us...Just trying to save one of them...It would have been

right...And somebody in this world would have saved the ole globe in the end...

It's like Spike used to say...There've been millions of Apocalypse plans since day one...Since long

before you or any of us showed up...

None ever succeeds...

"You've made us all killers, Buffy..." he stared at her...

Like you...And like your enemies...Your kind, now...Almost...

"Xander..."

"You did it for Will, right?...To keep her from telling us...To stay with him...?"

Yes...she looked at him quietly, a few tears running down her face...

It was me...I did it...Not the other...Not...Anne...

"I love him, Xander...He's...The one I came back for...I can't abandon him again, his soul won't

bear it...Not again..."

You're right...she nodded...I am not strong enough to give him up...I was willing to kill to be with

him...

"I am just another weak human being...With no more right to judge anyone than you or Willow or

Giles...Or William..."

Please...she begged, glancing over at William, lying unconscious on the slab she'd dragged him to...

"You know what he's been though...Help me...One last time..."

Not to save the world...Just to save my heart...

Hey...Xander's voice attempting to sound welcoming and cheerily normal...

"Welcome home...Almost, Wil...We can't wait to see ya...I..." Beep...

Willow grinned...He still hasn't got the hang of telephone messages...

"Love ya...Sorry..." the next message concluded...

Dawn next...Likewise with the cheery welcome...

Willow sighed...Stretching out on her hotel bed...

Guys...?

Well, thank God at least Ma was back to normal...Off to a psych seminar, leaving her here to fend

for herself...

Rather crossly fend, actually...With a minor spat included...Ma, you planned this seminar during the

first week we've had together in ages?...When I needed you?...What am I supposed to do, wander

around by myself all day...?

But ending somehow with them both knowing...Things had changed...For the better...

Even if the old ruts had begun to wear once again, already...

And, soon...The guys would get off this "china doll Willow, handle with care" stuff...And hit her

with their anger and hurt...And things would go back...Never quite to the ole days...But to a

reasonable facsimile of normal...

Patience, Willow...Giles' voice in her head...

Dear Rupert...

Hey...Now there's a worthy occupation until I meet Ma for lunch...

Dear Rupert,

All's going as well as...

The phone had played a message from Buffy, Anya...Really over the mind-control anger thing,

Willow...Please come home soon...And two more from Xander...

And then...

"Willow...This is William..."

Buffy has had...An accident...

You hafta come home...Now, Red...

Please...Call me...

She listened...Sitting up to look at the phone...

Another beep...Xander...

"Willow..."

Call me...The minute you can...

And finally...

"Willow my dear..."

There seems to have been a terrible accident back in Sunnydale...

Buffy...Needs you home at once...I'm flying out in a few hours...

Call me if you can...

As she grabbed for the phone, she could not entirely suppress a brief throb of joy...And satisfaction...

They need me...

I'm home...

Deathwishes...Part XXIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXIII...

Buffy remained in her pleading posture, Xander staring at her...And at William over on a slab,

unconscious from the tranquillizer dart he'd used on him...

"Please..." she breathed...

I'm not a monster...I didn't want to hurt Anya...

Xander, she's a demon...I knew...Somehow...

"Like you!..." he replied furiously...

"Xander!..." Anya suddenly materialized between them...Staggering...Two IV lines still attached to

her arms...

Don't...she feebly raised her arms...And collapsed...

He ran over to her, Buffy coming as well...

"Get away...!" he screamed at her...Waving the stake in his hand...She backed off...Looking to

William...Still out cold on his slab...

"Is she all right?..." Buffy hesitantly called...

"Don't speak to me...Don't say a word..." Xander replied...Not looking at her as he chaffed Anya's

wrists...She gradually opened her eyes and sat up a bit...

An...he embraced her...

Don't Xander...If you love me...Please...she gasped...

"All right, all right..." he nodded...

But you have to get back to the hospital...

No...she waved a hand...I'll be ok...Just need a few minutes to get my strength back...

She looked over to Buffy now standing by William...

"No little vamp is ever gonna take a vengeance demon..." she grinned wanly at him...

Not even a Slayer vamp...

"Anya...I..." Buffy waved her hands...

I understand...Anya replied coldly...Avoiding looking directly at her for a moment...

She got up carefully...Xander taking an arm...And moved over to a concrete bench by the wall of

family plaques...And finally looked over at Buffy...Now gently stroking William's hair as she sat by

him...

"What happened, Buffy...?" she asked quietly...

"Someone...Human...Drugged me, somehow..." Buffy continued to look at Will, smoothing his

hair...

Last night...At the McGarvey cemetery...Posing as a guard there...Using a bunch of demons to keep

me busy...

Then that little vampire...The one who worked there...she paused...

Anya nodded...Patting Xander's hands as he sat next to her...

"It was some kind of a set-up...Someone was out to get me...And there was another...One of the

demons...I recognized her voice...Someone I know..."

The guard too...The human one...I knew him, I'm sure...But I can't quite...

"Human...?" Xander asked quietly...

A human did this to you...?

"Arranged it I guess is the better way to put it..." she replied...

Xander...Please...Forg...she started to rise...

"Stay where you are Buffy!..." Anya called in a thunderous voice, standing in a rush...Anyanka's

voice...

Xander and Buffy both jumping a bit...

I want to help you...Anya continued in a normal tone...Still standing...

But I will not take a chance with Xander...

"Understand?..."

Buffy nodded, sitting back down...

Guess I got my second wind...Anya grinned at Xander...

"Hey guys..." A cloud of bluish-white mist suddenly took form in the center of the crypt room...

Willow...Hi...Anya waved...

The face of a dark-eyed Willow looked out at them from the mist...

"Willow...?" Xander stared...

Are you...Teleporting...?

"Do I look like I'm teleporting, you fool?..." she asked coldly...Then calmed...

Sorry...Raging dark force...Gives me a little headache...

"I don't have access to the power I'd need for a transport spell..." she explained...

But I wanted to see what was up after I got your messages...

I've got Giles on the other end of my line...she noted...He was gonna try the coven again for a

teleport but I got him to settle for this and the first flight home...

"He would have come straight, Buffy...But they have less power now since fighting me and it would

be too risky..." she eyed Buffy beside William...

I'm coming too...As soon as I can catch a flight...

I understand Wil...Buffy nodded...Thanks...And tell Giles the same...

"Is Blondie ok...?" she looked over at William...

"Xander did it..." Anya told her...A faint note of pride in her voice...

Tranquillized him when he came to kill Buffy...To spare his feelings...

"Xander?...You took out William the Bloody...?" Willow grinned at him...

Even Giles didn't do so well with Angelus...Anya smiled fondly at him...

And all for me...she thought...Wobbling a little and hastily sitting down...

"Anya?..." Willow looked at her...

I tried to kill her...Buffy explained...

To keep her from telling the others...she looked sadly at Willow's face...

"I see..." Willow replied...A blurry hand appeared, rubbing her disembodied forehead a moment,

then disappeared...

I hate to sound so lame, Buf...she sighed...But...It will be all right, you know...she smiled gently at

her...

Whoa...Wait...Xander?...

"You tried to kill Buffy?..."

Yeah...he nodded, sighing...Staring over to Buffy...

No hard feelings her wan smile back said...

Gee...Willow's floating head shook...

Guess we're all about even now...she grinned faintly...

Lovely...A groggy, dazed William looked up, turning over...Still on his slab...

Ambushed by Xander Harris...Successfully...

On the positive side...Spike may as well give up any hope of a return someday...He could never live

it down...

"Will...?" Buffy beamed at him...Hugging him gently...

You ok...?

He nodded, looking round...

"Harris?..."

Obviously he didn't kill me...Buffy smiled...

Yet...

"Good, good..." he eyed her...Carefully...

She looked back at him...William?...she frowned...

"You think I killed him?..." she groused...

Well...Love...he paused...

You did just sink fangs into ole Anya to keep her quiet...

"They're outside...Willow thought it was best if they keep their distance..." she explained...

Red's back?...

"Just her head..." Buffy grinned...

Communication spell...She and Giles are flying home asap...

Good ole Red...he nodded...

"See, girl...You had your panties all twisted for nothing...Ripper and Red will have this little matter

set to rights in no time..."

It will be all right, Cicely...he eyed her gently...

God couldn't be so cruel to us after all we've been through...

She sighed...I dunno about that, she thought...And looked at him...

All these years...Lost...And now this...And he can still...Hope...

And I doubted him, she closed her eyes...Didn't think he could handle himself and fight with me...?

And then grinned a bit...

"Mr. Walthrop...I thought you were the free-thinker in this family...? All those anti-Church of

England polemics you used to treat me to...?"

Papa would have had you horsewhipped...As an example to others...

Probably would've in any case if I'd lived...he smiled back...

"Well..." she grinned...

If we do get through this and I get back to college at last, I should at least be able to ace nineteenth

century English history...

Deathwishes...Part XXIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXIV...

It now heading on towards three o'clock, at Anya's strongly urged and strongly Buffy-supported

suggestion, Xander reluctantly went to the Summers' to give Dawn a diluted explanation of current

events and prevent her from returning to the crypt on her own...

In addition he'd be needed to ferry Willow and Giles in as they arrived asap...

But there was nothing remotely geekish in the cold warning he gave Buffy's demon within when he

and Anya returned inside the crypt before he left...Despite Anya's insistence that she would remain

near the entrance and could only be weakened, not killed in her "vd" state...

"Wasn't Xander terrific?...You know, he even thought of keeping a couple of vamp protective

charms from the store on him..." she proudly noted to Buffy and William as they waited just

within...She by the door as promised...

He've of killed me for sure if it'd been necessary, Buffy agreed...Smiling a bit at Will...

Xander returned from the airport with Willow two hours later...

A furious Dawn having reluctantly agreed to remain behind, settling for a quick cell phone call with

her sis and Buffy's assurance that the little demon curse thing placed on her was nothing special...

Willow had completed her examination...

Clearly there had been a partial transformation...But the strong presence of Cicely within had helped

to retain both souls or soul variants to be more precise...

"See..." she explained... "Buffy and Cicely are one person, but with variations...Born

twice...Therefore on the astral plane the original soul is sort of superimposed on the new one..."

A ghost soul...? Xander asked...

"Probably as good a way to define it as anything..." Willow nodded...

Cicely was one powerfully-minded lady...To be reincarnated at all...Then in the body of another

Slayer...And at what her soul...She smiled at Buffy...Your soul...Somehow knew was a preety good

moment...When Spike would soon be coming to America to find a cure for Dru...

My God...she eyed Buffy...And looked at Xander and Anya

"She knew...Cicely knew about Dru being hurt in Prague in '77...That's why she was reborn a few

years later...She knew Spike would be in one spot...Near the Hellmouth...For a while...And she'd

have a chance to reach William..."

"Except that I went and locked on to Angel..." Buffy noted...

Poor guy had the soul I was looking for...And I reminded him of what he'd sought all those lost

years...Poor Darla's true soul...

You'd think I'd remember what my own husband looked like...she sheepishly smiled at William...

"My record's not been exactly pure, love..." he grinned back at her...

You've done nothing, Will...she hastily replied...

Nothing...Spike was the...

"Love..." he raised a hand...

Lets leave the past to the past...For now...

Later we can tear our hearts up about it if we have to...

"Present problems first..." he turned to Willow...

And so...he eyed her...

"What's to be done...?"

"Giles and I talked some about this..." Willow nodded...

The demon has only sporadic control...And her toehold on Buffy is weak...

We ought to be able to drive it out...And restore Buffy...and Cicely to normal...

"Or whatever a dual-souled lady considers normal..." she grinned at Buffy...

"So...?" Xander asked...

This'll be like an...Exorcism?...

Hmmn...Anya frowned...

Never been fond of exorcism...

But that's a natural prejudice...

"When can we start?..." Buffy asked anxiously...

Well...Willow consulted her notes a mo...

Giles seemed to think there was no reason I couldn't go ahead without him...The actual spell is quite

simple...Reverse of a summons...

"Even musical demon-summoning boy here..." she grinned at Xander... "Could do it..."

"Are you sure about this, Red?..." William eyed her...

Willow sighed...

"No guarantees, guys...There may be spell traps, etc...But it should work...Or at least help..."

And Giles will be here asap to back me up if our first try fails...

"Do it, Wil...Please..." Buffy begged...But refrained from her natural impulse to reach out a hand to

her friend...Xander still keeping a wary eye on her...

Cicely and I are not finding this "Anne" a great roomie ...

My Anne...she shook her head sadly...

"We all have our dark side, Buffy..." William noted...Patting her hand...

Even the Slayer...

"Especially the Slayer..." she replied...

One thing before we start...she looked at Willow and the others...

"If this fails...If you guys can't help me get her out..." she looked solemnly at them...

Would you spring for a couple of tickets to Africa for Will and me...?

"I really don't want to die now..." she grinned wanly, putting an arm around William...

"I don't understand it..." Willow shook her head...

Nothing seems to have changed...Demon lady's still hanging in there...

"Well..." Buffy smiled...

"I feel better...More in control..."

It may have pushed the thing down a bit...Willow agreed...

"But this should have worked...Unless something or someone is interfering..."

So...Buffy wryly grinned...

Guess I still gotta watch it outside...

"Afraid it's likely, Buf..." Willow nodded...

Buffy patted her...Know you're doing your best, Wil...she nodded...

"William..." she looked at him...

Sorry...But they'll figure this out soon...Giles will be here and that'll be that...

"Maybe..." he nodded back...

But someone...Several someones, from what you told us, it seems...And at least one human

someone...Is trying to keep you this way...

"And we'd best find these folks before they try to make things worse..."

She nodded...

"Any ideas as to who, Buffy...?" Willow looked at her...

"You did say you recognized one of the demons' voices...A female..." Anya noted...

Could have been Haly, I suppose...Trying to louse you and Will up again...

"No..." Buffy shook her head...Not Halfreck...But I can't quite place her...It...

That human guard?...Xander asked...

"Yeah...I knew his voice for a second...But..." she hesitated...

Busy moment...I can't quite get it...

"Could check their records on computer..." Willow noted...

Nah, I worked for those guys once...Xander shook his head at her...

They couldn't use computers if their lives depended on it...All paper...

Paper...Willow rolled her eyes...

Not that she'd didn't love old papers...As in dark old archives to be throughly searched with dear old

Rupert...Just a modern-day company?...Paper records only?...Geesh...

"I could go to the security company..." Xander looked at Buffy...

Check names, get an address if possible...

"Thanks..." she nodded...He got up to leave...

Xander?...she paused...

"You did the right thing coming here...If William and my dual nature couldn't have held me back a

little...It would've been what I wanted..."

Ok...he nodded back...

But tell your Anne...

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat..."

He left as Willow began reviewing exorcism spells with Anya...

Oh...Don't worry, big brother...Anne thought as she watched Xander leave...Eyeing the others as she

kept a gentle arm around William

I know you would...

Deathwishes...Part XXV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXV...

"Ow!..." Anya grimaced, looking at one particularly painful exorcism spell in Willow's "Lil' Book

of Demon Drivin' "...As she and Willow continued looking through the batch of spell books Xander

had brought from the Magic Shop when he'd gone to pick up Willow earlier...

William and Anne watching from a slab...Anne with arm about William...Her head on his

shoulder...

Sorry...Anya eyed Willow...That one brings back some painful memories...

"You possessed someone?..." Willow stared at her...

Me?...Anya shook her head...No, no, no...Vengeance demons don't do possession...We still have

human souls and all...

"But a friend got me caught up in her exorcism once...I got the backend of the energy wave..."

Not a pleasant experience...

"So this one's good?..."

Eh...Anya shrugged...Not as good as the one you tried...

Hmmn...Willow looked over at Buffy...

Anne smiling back from where she lay against William...Who was writing on a pad...Let me see?

she grinned at him...Taking it...

"Buffy...? You sure you don't feel any differently...?" Willow called...

"Just stronger, Wil...More in control...Like I told you before..."

"It's nice, Will..." she beamed at William... "And I'm glad to see my poet is back..."

I have one for you...she shyly put her lips to his ear...

"There must be a blocking force at work here..." Willow shook her head at Anya...

This one should have worked...I can't see any reason why it wouldn't otherwise...

"... '...tis grown a bulge in it...Inspired by...Your beauty effulgent'..." Anne whispered...

"I remembered, Will..."

Can't say as I like it any better than in 1880...she grinned at him...As he nodded...Staring at her...

"But I remembered...Or at least...Cicely did..."

"Hey, guys!..." she called to Willow and Anya, holding up William's latest...

"Will's written me a poem...!"

"So...?" Warren eyed Amy...Who shrugged...Looking at her spell implements...

"No way to tell if it worked...But they definitely did try to exorcize the demon...The orb there is red

hot..."

Oh, yeah?...Warren felt it...Jesus!...He knocked it over as their demon ally, Zorg watched...

"I told you it was hot, Warren..." Amy frowned...Zorg rolling his eye a bit...The left one...The right

remaining firmly on his human allies...

Here...she passed him a wet cloth...

"Do I say anything?..." he looked at the cloth...Wrapping it around his burned hand...

"..."Thank you" might be nice..." she looked at him...

It's just a wet cloth, Warren...

"Oh..."

Thanks...he nodded at her...

"Sure..." she smiled... "I've got some ointment, I'll get it for you..."

She hopped up...

Zorg frowned as Warren nursed his hand...Charming, but...

"So we cannot know if our witch's work has succeeded?..."

Well...If our Annie is up and in control...We should hear about it preety soon...Warren beamed...

"Sunnydale Observer's sure to run a banner headline about the murder spree..."

Pfft...!...Willow's laptop went dark...As did William's newly installed lights...

Fortunately still light out yet...Though a bit dim inside...William hastily lit some candles...

Hmmn...Willow frowned at the computer...Battery drained or fried as well...

"Guess Harris' electrical training leaves a bit to be desired..." William grinned at Willow...Anya

frowning back at him a bit...

Hardly a place allowing for quality electrical work...And it was a freebie, she thought...

"So much for getting anything done here..." Willow sighed...Well...

"Giles is due in about eight hours..." she looked at Buffy and William...

Maybe it's best if Anya and I head back to your place, Buffy...Check on Dawn and see what else we

can dig out...If I can't get this thing running again...I can use yours...

"I think that's the best plan, Wil..." Anne nodded...

William can watch over me here...she smiled...

"Club me one good if demon girl tries anything after dark..."

And you guys know...It's ok...

"We're married, after all..." she grinned at William who nodded...

Best if you go to the Nibs...She must be climbing the walls...he noted...

"Ok..." Willow collected her stuff...

Buffy...? she paused...

"I'm sorry it didn't work the first time...But we'll get it...Giles will get it done..."

Anne nodded...

"It's great just to have you home with us, Willow..." she smiled...

"Sorry your coming couldn't be celebrated...The right way..."

My way...Anne thought...

"Nice to be home...And...Cicely?..." Willow paused...

"Nice to meet you...And...Welcome...Home..."

"Thank you, Wil..." Anne beamed at her...

"Well...We'll tell Dawn..." Willow paused...Twisting her face wryly...

Some of it...

Yeah...Anne nodded...

"Tell her I'm gonna be fine...And I'll be home as soon as I can...And I love her..." she turned to

William...

"Guess the rest should wait, right... "Dad"?..." she smiled at him...

God, yes...he rolled his eyes...

"... 'Dad'...?" Willow blinked at them...

I'll explain later...Anne waved at her...

"Anya?...You know..."

"It's ok, Buffy..." Anya nodded...

Just name your first born daughter after me...she smiled at William...

"Second-born..." Anne sighed...Tightening her grip on him...

I know, honey...Willow replied sadly...Standing near the entrance with her bags...

"Giles and I found Cicely's death certificate..."

Anne nodded...Her head against William...

"But there's more to the story yet, Wil..." she looked at Willow...

"After we get my little problem sorted out...I'll tell you..."

We'll tell you...she hugged William still tighter...

"Don't..." she whispered in his ear...As he tensed slightly...

"Bye, ladies..." he waved...As the two left...

"Should I clap...For that wonderful performance...?" he looked at Anne carefully...

"Would you rather I'd killed them?...Right then?..." she beamed at him...

"Oh, right..." she sneered...

Super-Willow and Justice Demon...Poor half-vamp me wouldn't stand a chance...

"But I could have killed your Buffy...And Cicely...Made 'em go "poof"...Before Willow could've

batted an eye or thrown a pinch of powder...And I will if you tell them..."

If you try to send me back to Hell, Walthrop...Your wife goes too...Both of her...I promise you...

Darling...she smiled...

Deathwishes...Part XXVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXVI...

He was very quiet...Anne noted to him...As they sat facing each other across his little table, she

having requested something to eat...A little blood, followed by some real food...

"I've nothing to say to you, Anne..." he eyed her briefly...

"After a hundred and twenty three years of marriage...Baby?...Have we become a cliche...? Nothing

left to say to each other...?" she teased him...

"Leave me be..." he told her quietly...Or you may be sorry...Soon...

"Well...Just answer me one question...Dearest..." she batted her eyes at him...

"When and how?..."

He sighed...

"A little after Willow's spell failed..."

He grinned coldly...

"And...Because I've felt you before...Last year...Even earlier...Banging on my poor Buffy's

door...Even when I was trapped, hanging on with Spike..."

I know you, girl...And I know my wife...

She flushed a bit...

"I am..." she began...

He grabbed her suddenly across the table, hauling her to her feet...Screaming in her startled

face...Shaking her fiercely...

"You think I'm gonna let you win, bitch!...After what we've been through?...Hell, girl...You think

Spike was dangerous!...GIVE ME MY WIFE BACK, DAMN YOU!...I'll kill you if you

don't!..."

Cool...she grinned, not resisting...

"I like you all insane with rage, Willy...Never thought you had...Hey!..."

He slapped her with an open hand...And dragging her over, threw her back, onto the slab...Calming

a bit as he held her down...She staring up at him...Just eyeing him...

"I'll kill you, Anne...With pleasure...And then stake myself...Buffy...Cicely will find me again...You

of all people should know that..."

"Wow...William the Bloody gets rough...Again..." she grinned... "Oooh, please..."

"Well...Darling..." she smiled up at him...

Go right ahead...

"I won't even fight back..."

C'mon...A stake'll do it...she cooed...

And there's one, right over there...she nodded at it...next to the table...

"Course...I'm not quite a vamp...So there's likely to be blood..."

He jerked her up to sitting posture...Holding her by her neck...

"So..." she smiled gently...

"Still the little poet who finds violence "vulgar"?...Even within what Spike gave you?..."

He looked at her...Relaxing just a bit of his grip...

"Do you want to die, Anne?..." he asked her, calmly...

Is that it...?

"Please..." she chuckled... "I just got here..."

But...Death...?...Heck...Been there, done that...All three of us...

Her face suddenly darkened...

"But I won't go back...Not without company..."

And you're starting to make me feel unwelcome...William...she gave him a grim look...

Feeling her face...

"None of us likes to be hit, Willy...Even by our own true...Especially me..."

"Really?..." he smiled coldly... "Well...You must know Spike would give you a hell of a lot

worse...On his best day..."

As for your little threat...You'll go alone to Hell, girl...

"You so sure of that...Willy...?" she stared in his eyes...

Your girl...Even the human parts of us...Is no...she grinned...

Angel...

"We're quite the slut, really..." Anne shook her head...

"And you know our skills as a cold-blooded killer without compassion..."

He tensed...

"You hit me again...Willy...And you'll be sorry..." she smiled at him...

One I'll allow for your deep, deep love for my human sister...sisters...

"But that's all..."

He released her and paced...Watching her all the while...

"That's more like the Willy we know..." she smiled...

My loving monster who wanted to be a man...

"You can't touch her soul...Bitch..." he told her quietly...Pausing in the middle of the crypt...

"I am her...Bastard...Just as you are Spike, Willy..."

But... she spread her arms and stretched a bit on the slab...

Even if I can't send the Good Ladies to Hell...

"You would be separated, William...From all of us..."

And, considering the way the Powers That Be have operated with us...Poor Honey...she eyed him

with a sad expression...That quickly became a sardonic grin...

"I think it's a safe bet that I could arrange for all of us to be separated...Maybe not forever...But..."

You prepared to wait another thousand years for us, Willy?...Ten thousand...?

"Buffy...Cicely...Listen to me, girl..."

"HEY!" she raged at him...Rising up...

I'm talking to you!...Me!...

"Forget about the little sisters...They're asleep until I say so..." she calmed...

"Don't you mean...Until whoever is helping you says so?..." he looked at her...

Clev..Er...she cooed...

That's my little scholar-poet...

"But...Can't help you there, honey...I don't know who myself...Though I do appreciate their

kindness..."

"This is hopeless, Anne...I'm not gonna let you do anything...Except vacate..."

She made a gesture with both hands...Well?...

"So...Put your hot little hands on my tight little bod...And make me...Bitch..." she grinned at him...

She eyed him a moment...

We never have danced, you know...she smiled at him...

Dance, dance...I mean...Not Spike's way...

"Though I suppose...In reality...We were dancing even then...Love..." she grinned...

"But real dancing...Not even at Anya's wedding...You know..." she eyed him...

Almost...Sadly...He suddenly realized...

"All three of us...Or two and a half of us...Cause it's hard to tell where Cicely or Buffy begins and

ends...Wanted to dance with you then..." she paused...

"Why didn't you stay, Will...?...It would've been so nice...We've waited so long..."

We didn't even dance at our wedding...Remember?...That dinky little church west of London...

He watched her carefully...Trying to catch him off?guard he thought...But...There was something

sincere in her voice...Wistful...

She went over to the little CD player-radio Anya and Xander had given him...Battery-powered, she

noted...

Mind if I?...she asked...

He nodded...And she turned it on...Searching the tapes Xander had given him...Ah...

She popped it in...

"Love me tender...Love me true..." a young Elvis warbled...

"Dance with us, now...William..." she eyed him...

I'll let her...them...Feel it...

"Dance with us...Please...?"

Just one...

"Maybe...I'll go if you dance with us..."

I doubt that...he looked at her...

"Yeah...Well..." she nodded...

I still would like it...And I'll let you speak to her...Maybe she'll hear you...

She came over...Putting up a hand for him to take, almost shyly...

"I am her too, Spike...You married all of me, you know...Just like I married all of you..."

"We deserve to have our wedding dance at last...Even if it's me running the show, you can pretend

it's her...Them...It is, after all..."

Dance with your wife, baby...

Deathwishes...Part XXVII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXVII...

"Love me tender...Love me true...All my dreams...Fulfill..." Anne whispered as she and William

slowly danced about the crypt...He steadfastly maintaining a cold lock on her, refusing to look

directly at her...

"What will it take to make you go, Anne?..." he asked her quietly, sliding her around the room...

Be nice to me and maybe I'll say...she smiled...Looking into his face...He turned away...

She crimsoned a little...Pausing in the dance as the music continued...

"I'm part of this little work of art called Buffy...And Cicely...William..."

Don't ever forget that, hubby...she glared at him...But resumed the dance as Elvis continued...

"I am your wife too..." she murmured...Holding him tightly...

"The most important part...The part that made Cicely...Makes Buffy...The Slayer..."

The part that grabbed you by the balls even back in those old so refined days of 1880...Willy...she

smiled at him, pulling back a bit as the song ended...

"You want Spike...Is that it?..." he stared at her directly finally...

Why, hello there, Mr. Walthrop...Nice to see you...she grinned...

"Spike...? Yeah...I want him..." Anne nodded...

But I've gotten greedy over the years, Will...

"I want all of you..."

But...For now...she grinned...

Just one more dance...Please?...

"So she was hurt...Exactly what did happen to her?" Dawn glared at Xander...

Ummn...

Who was doing his manful best to explain just enough of the situation to keep Dawny from charging

off to the crypt without letting her know the full extent of Buffy's condition...

"Like I said...She asked me not to say too much...But Willow has it under control..." he began...

"Has what under control?...Xander!"

"They'll drive you out, Anne...Willow and Giles...They'll find a way..." William whispered to Anne

as he granted her the second dance she'd requested... "Unchained Melody"...

"Pray they don't, William..." she looked up at him...Holding him tightly...

If they do...I take my sisters with me...

"You're bluffing, Anne..." he pulled back from her...

I know demons...They don't like Death...Not once they'd have a taste of Earth...

You're not the type to commit suicide...

"No..." she grinned... "But murder's right up my alley...And if Willow and Giles "murder"

me...Why shouldn't you lose Buffy...Cicely...?"

I'll never lose her...he smiled coldly at Anne...Turning her round with the music...

"I've already told you...I'll stake myself...And we will find each other..."

Afterlife's a big place, hubby...she smiled...

Don't count on find her...them...too soon...

"But you have your money on our little magical friends anyway, right?...They'll revive the souls

and drive lil' vicious me out..."

Which means...she paused...

"I have to find whoever was kind...And powerful...Enough to drive the sisters down in the first

place..."

Somebody up here obviously likes me...she grinned...

"I think we best set some ground rules..." she eyed William...

"You keep mum about me..." she nodded at him, turning him about in time to the music...

And I won't go kill our Dawny...Our little restored Amelia...

"Difficult to do when I'll never let you leave here...Alive..." he smiled at her...

Hmmn...Well...she smiled back...And stabbed him with one of Xander's darts which she picked up

from the floor unseen...

"Good thing Xander was such a poor shot, eh...honey?"

He collapsed...Struggling...

"Cicely!..." he groaned...

"Guess you need another..." she grabbed a second dart from where it had fallen...

"Night, sweet Prince..." she smiled...

"Just remember me in your dreams...And Dawny..." she whispered, kissing him as he passed out...

"I love you, Will..." she kissed him again...Dragging him over to the ladder leading to the depths of

the crypt...

"You sure she's out and about?...Not still at Spike's new place?..." Warren hissed to Amy...As he,

she, their demon ally Zorg, and one of his mates carefully moved along a dark side street a few

blocks from the Summers' home...

"She's headed in this direction...But I can't say if we succeeded or no..." Amy replied...

And no sign of Willow with her...Though Willow is now in Sunnydale...she added, well aware that

Willow's whereabouts would be a prime concern of her boyf...er partner in crime...

Hmmn...Warren frowned...Not likely mad killer demon Buffy would simply head home to see the

little sis, even allowing for the half-human body...

Unless...She wanted company...

He turned to the authority at hand on demon psychology...

"It would not be unusual for a newborn demon to seek out family for transformation..." Zorg nodded

in reply to his ally's question...

"Well..." Warren sighed... "I guess all we can do is watch from a safe distance and hope things take

a bloody turn quickly..."

Night goggles, people...he commanded...All slipped their goggles on...

Remarkable things, Zorg noted...

"Our kind really should've paid more attention to human scientific accomplishments...Might have

made a world of difference in our efforts..." he nodded at Warren...

"Never too late to learn a few new tricks..." Warren replied...

The group reached a fenced-off field with clumps of bushes and hedge, just two blocks from their

surveillance objective, the Summers' home a few minutes later, Warren ordering them all to various

concealed spots...Buffy sure to come along this way based on Amy's monitoring...

William groggily came to...In a back section of his new crypt, under some blankets...Still heavily

sedated he fumbled against the ropes and chain Anne had put on him...He shook at a blanket, which

moved but was clearly weighed down on him with something heavy...Rock from this hollowed?out

section of the crypt, he guessed...

Something pinned to his shirt...He couldn't quite reach...Damn...Something heavy fell on his leg

from above the blanket...Felt almost like...Yep...Part of a broken tombstone...

She'd weighted the blankets on him down with broken tombstones...Nice touch...

Dawn...he thought suddenly in horror...She'd mentioned a threat to Dawn...His reincarnated

Amelia...Their little girl...

He struggled fiercely against the ropes and managed to partly turn over...Arghh!...Two large blocks,

more tombstone, fell on his side...

But now, on his side, he could see that she'd pinned a note to his shirt...He pulled it free with his

teeth...Desperately trying to smooth it with his head...He reared back to see it clearly...

Pity Anne couldn't have thought to leave his glasses near...Ah...

"William, darling..." the note began...

"I'm guessing the darts, chain, and ropes will hold you for about say...Three hours at best...Which

should be just enough time for me to visit with Dawny..."

"When you get free, come and see us...We'll be at the house..."

"I suggest you come alone...And refrain from talking to anyone about me...Dawny will be quite

willing to die for me by the time you reach us...And you know I won't hesitate to let her do so if you

betray me..."

"But it's your decision, honey..."

"Love, Anne..."

"PS. Cicely and Buffy send their best...And something about not letting your little daughter

die...Again..."

"There she is..." Warren hissed to Amy...As they stood in a clump of bush behind the battered fence

surrounding their "stakeout" field...

Buffy was passing by a good clip...Looking intent on reaching wherever she was headed...But

otherwise not any worse than since her partial transformation...

She halted suddenly...

Warren gasped...Amy stifling him with a hand over his mouth...

He relaxed as he saw she was merely pulling out a cell phone...William's...

"Xander..." they heard her hiss into the phone...

"Can you get over here...To the crypt...With some blood?...Will's out and the demon is being to rage

a little..."

What?..Warren eyed Amy who shrugged...

"No..." they heard her continue...

"Will went to try and find some quick or get over to Willow and see what she could get...But I'm

afraid to stay here without it...He's got me safe behind some crosses and stuff but...Please,

Xander..." she pleaded...

I don't want to hurt anyone...

There was a brief pause...

"Thanks...Big brother..." she sighed... And shutting off the phone...Leaned against a telephone pole

by the fence...

"All right..." she called into the field...

"Who's out there?...I feel you...Demons and humans...Come on out or I'm coming in..."

No response...She peered into the field...

"Ok...I haven't got much time...I have to go see my sis in a few...Now you guys had something to do

with our transformation...And my liberation...I assume?..."

"Look...I'm the one you wanted to meet...C'mon out...I'm willing to deal...But if you don't come

out...In ten..."

"Nine-seven-three-time's up!..." she grinned, pulling part of the metal wire fence away...

"How do we know you're her demon...?" a voice called from a clump of bushes...Warren

desperately doing his damnedest to disguise his voice...

"Cause...I won't kill you right away...Warren?..." she smiled at him, having run over and torn open

the bushes...

Suddenly she found herself tossed back by a wave of energy...

Amy stood up...Standing by her b...er partner in crime...

"Amy?..." Anne blinked up at her from the ground...

You?...she looked over to a nervous Warren...

"Nice job...How'd you do it...?"

Clone...Spell...Amy noted...

Mmmn...Anne eyed her...

Zorg and his friend rose and came forward as well...

"Got a new crime gang together, Warren?"...Anne smiled...

"Something of an improvement, I'd say..." she looked over the group now collecting together...

Sorry?...she nodded at Zorg...

"Zorg...And my friend Harvey..." he indicated the other demon...

"And which of you should I be talking to...Amy? You the leader here...?" she cocked her head at

the witch...Noting the defensive position she'd taken at Warren's side...

So...Amy and Warren...?

Well...She always was the clinging little wallflower...And three years rat in a cage couldn't have

improved her much...

And Warren has a knack for picking...Or creating...Needy, low self-esteem types...

"We're...Partners..." Amy eyed Warren...

"Yeah...You speak to both...er...All of us, lady..." Warren corrected diplomatically...

"Gee..." Anne shook her head...

"Would've thought a nerd like you would have avoided a Council, Warren...I mean...Look what

happened to the Jedi...?" she grinned...

"You wanna talk or what...?" Warren glared...

"You're right...Sorry...And my time is short..." she nodded...

"So...You and Amy arranged Buffy's little incident the other night...And Amy sabotaged Willow's

exorcism this afternoon?..."

"And...If we did?..." Amy felt a slight squeeze on her hand from him...Watch her, she realized...

Anne waved a hand...

"Just wanta say I'm grateful...I'd never have gotten out at the rate she was going...Though I can't

say as I'm too crazy with this half-and-half existence...The worst of both worlds in some ways, I'd

say..."

Hardly our fault...Warren sniffed...Speak to your "sister"...

Sisters...Anne corrected...There are two of them in here with me...Or one multi-lobed soul if you

prefer...

"Buffy's a reincarnate, isn't she?..." Amy asked, curious...Warren staring at her...

Anne nodded...A previous Slayer...Who knew William the Bloody many years ago...she

explained...And lost him...

"It was the most likely explanation, Warren..." Amy shrugged...That or her mother helping her

somehow...

"My mom...Our mom...Abandoned us..." Anne shook her head...Glaring a bit...

Safe in Heaven and not a care in the universe...Certainly not about me...Us...

"But then...At least she didn't try to steal our body and kill us...Eh, Amy?..." she grinned...

"What do you want...Buffy?" Amy frowned...

"Anne...At least when we're alone...None of my friends about...Call me Anne..."

"Anne...What do you want...?"

"I'd ask the same question..." Anne smiled...

"But I can guess...Warren there wants power...Sunnydale and the Hellmouth's power at his

feet...And the frenzied worship of millions...Especially women...Especially..." she beamed...

"The sort of women who used to kick his ass...Like me..."

"Hey!..." Warren glared...

"You..." Anne eyed Amy...

Want revenge on Willow...And the rest of us...For your rat days...

And maybe for Mommy too...?...she shook her head...

Amy?...Is that gratitude...?

"And of course...For some bizarre reason, rooted in serious emotional problems...You want

whatever nerdy here wants...For him..." she smiled at Warren...

Amy shrugged...Watching her...

"Well..." Anne waved a hand...

"Your business, I suppose...In fact..." she beamed at Warren...

"Our Warren has shown some impressive abilities over the last year...I think I could accept

him...And you...As partners..."

"As for your friend Zorg...He and his pal want to win one for the Evil team...Take the Slayer down

and win Immortal fame doing so...Right, guys...?" she eyed them...

"Well...Ain't gonna happen..." she whipped her stake out and zipped it at Zorg, it struck him in the

heart and he collapsed...Dead...

Amy waved a hand and pulled Warren close...While poor Harvey gasping, fled...

Anne rushed over to Zorg's body, pulling the stake out with a grunt...

"Don't try it, Anne..." Amy called...

"Even you can't penetrated this field..." she indicated the spell field...

"And even if you could, I've protected Warren and me against your vampire nature..."

Anne smiled back...Shrugging...

"I've no intention of hurting either of you...Yet..."

"We're partners, like I said...At least in my view...And you know you need me...'Cause if Willow

ever learned you were around Warren...And the two of you had a role in helping me...Well..."

Wouldn't be pretty...

"But as for your demon friend..." she waved a hand back at poor Zorg...

"I'm still the Slayer...Of sorts...And I can hardly let my reputation be besmirched by some junior

demon..."

"Now...As to business..." she looked at them...

"We are gonna have to work together, like it or no...'Cause we have one especial big

problem...Common to us..."

My best friend Willow Rosenberg...

Anya's already given Will what blood she had on hand this afternoon...Xander sighed to himself as

he drove into one of Sunnydale's less reputable neighborhoods...

Butcher shops are closed...Where the hell am I gonna get blood at this...?

My...God...he sighed...

I'm fetching blood...For Buffy...

Hmmn...he eyed a certain bar...If anyone would know where to purchase a little type O...? And it

would beat trying to break into the hospital blood bank...And fight off the vamps trying to get in...

He pulled up to the curb...

"Willie..." he smiled as he entered the bar...

"Buffy?..." Dawn stared at her sister, standing in the doorway...

"Hi, kiddo..." Buffy nodded...

Sorry to scare you with all the to?do and running around...I had a leetle problem last night...

"Yeah...Willow and Xander told me...But Xander went to meet you at Spike's...?" she eyed her

cautiously...

"It's all right, Dawn...Cicely and I have It under control..." Buffy smiled at her...

See...she stepped inside...

"No barrier..."

And Giles is coming home soon...He'll help Willow put an end to this...she looked round the room...

Ok...?

Dawn nodded warily...

"But why are you here, Buffy?...Xander..."

"He's coming back as soon as he gets...What I need..." Buffy looked away to the wall, biting a lip...

"I'm sorry, Dawny...I didn't mean for this to happen..."

But Xander told you...It's only partial...I'm not a vampire...Completely...

"Yeah..." Dawn nodded...

"He didn't give me details, of course...But he told me you were still mostly Buffy..."

And Cicely...Buffy smiled...

But stopped and turned a bit downcast on seeing Dawn's stare...

"Would you rather I wait outside, Dawny?...Until Xander comes back?...I mean, if you're afraid of

me...?" she stepped back towards the door...

"I wish Spike...William...had come with you at least...Why didn't he come?..." Dawn frowned at her

"Out for...You know...Like Xander..." Buffy nervously sighed...

And suddenly burst into tears...

"I'm sorry...Dawn..."

"It's not your fault, Buffy..." Dawn continued to keep her distance...

And I don't mean to hurt you...Just please keep away a little...she told her...

Ok...Buffy nodded...Wiping her eyes...

"Xander's sure to be back soon...William too..."

Poor William...Oh, Dawn...she shook her head...

"How could God do this to us...? He's suffered so much for me..." she put her head in her hands...

Dawn came over...Carefully...Her hand by her side...

"We'll find a way, Buffy...Willow and Giles will find something..."

Heck, you could try whatever Spike did if you have to...she smiled at her...Tentatively patting her

hair...

"Hafta see if the Council would spring for an African trip..." Buffy smiled wanly back...

We sure could never afford it...

Africa, eh?...So that's where Spike did it?...Dawn looked at her sis...

"Hmm-hmmn...He had quite a battle over it, too..." Buffy beamed...

"We talked a lot of things over, Dawn...I've remembered so much more about 1880..." she began...

And we have something special...To tell you, when he gets here...

"Me...?" Dawn eyed her...

Oh, yeah...Buffy grinned...

"This one will blow you away, kiddo..."

"You wouldn't...Consider...?" Dawn smiled at her...

Ummn...Buffy sighed, looking at her carefully...

"I promised William I wouldn't tell until he was here..."

Oh...

O..K...Dawn looked down a bit...

Now she's sharing secrets with him...she thought...

Great...

"Course..." Buffy smiled...

"No reason I can't answer a few innocuous questions on the matter while we wait...So as I don't tell

you directly..."

Hmmn...Dawn grinned back...

"You wanta sit down?...Over at the other end..." she pointed at the opposite end of the couch...

"Yeah...Thanks, Dawny...So just...Be careful..." she sat down...

Cause you never know when that Anne may rear her evil head...she grinned...And slid quietly over

to Dawn's side...

"Don't worry..." she raised a hand at Dawn's nervous face...

"You know I'd never let you be hurt..."

Heck, I died for you, right?...she stroked her hair a bit...

Right after you killed my mom...she smiled gently in Dawn's face...Terrified as the demon face

appeared...

Dawn tried to jump up...And swung a cross, in her left hand at Anne...Who eyed it calmly...Averting

her eyes just a bit...

"Dawn...Mom raised us to be free-thinkers, didn't she?..." she grinned...Pushing the cross away...

But it's good to see you taking some precautions...You're learning...

"Buffy!..." Dawn screamed...

"Help me!..."

"Try...Cicely..." Anne noted...Grabbing her...

She's here too...Though she doesn't know you all that well...

She bent Dawn's arm back gently but steadily until she sat back down, whimpering with pain...

"I have every right to do anything I chose with you...Dawny...You're made from me...Part of

me...Me as much as the others..." she began...Taking her sister's hand as Dawn tried to back

away...Stroking it gently and turning it over...Rubbing the underside veins exposed at the wrist...

But...I won't kill you...Just yet...

Cross my heart...she smiled gently...Dawn calming a hair...Maybe...

Buffy?...Help me...? Dawn whispered...

I love you...

"I love you, too...Sister..." Anne nodded...

And sank her fangs into Dawn's wrist...

Oh...Ah!...Dawn wailed...

"Oooh..." Anne grinned up at her, blood on her lips...

"Key's blood..."

Yummy...

"And lets not forget...Slayer's blood...My own, really..."

Bet this is even better than what Spikey got out of his Slayers...

"Buffy...!" Dawn cried...

Please...You don't want to do this...!...

Don't...

"It is a shame Buffy...And Cicely...Don't fight me harder...Isn't it...?" Anne noted...

But...Maybe they just don't care that much...

"You can't help it...Buffy..." Dawn shook her head slowly...Trying to pull her arm away...Anne

holding it firmly in her grip...

I have a name...Dawn...Anne said coldly, annoyance in her voice...

"Call me...Anne..."

No...Dawn shook her head...

Never...You are not my...Sister...

"I love you Buffy...Cicely..."

Anne forced Dawn's head back...Eyeing her neck...Stroking it with her fingernails...

"I am Buffy...And Cicely..." Anne coldly told her...

Made from them...Like you...

And they are me...

She cocked her head in a very Buffy pose at her...

"As you are...Dawny..."

But...We'll be sisters...Forever...Soon enough...

That is...? she eyed Dawn with a questioning look...

If you can be turned with me here...I don't know about that...

Maybe you'll just die...

"You aren't doing this...Buffy..." Dawn told her quietly...

It's not your fault...I'll never hate you...

"Such compassion..." Anne nodded kindly...

We...All three of us...Are so proud...she smiled...

But...she glared...Pulling Dawn's head back...And coming over to her left ear...

"Where was that compassion for my William?...He loved you like a sister...Like the daughter you

are..."

Dawn stared at her...Blinking...Daughter...?

You are our daughter, Dawn...Anne smiled at her...Whispering...

Our little Amelia...Sent back to us, courtesy of Glory and the monks...

"So...Daughter...Why didn't you help him...?...Why did you turn on him?...The only one of us who

saw him for what he was, however faintly...Why didn't we help him, Dawn?..."

Slayers...And their associated fellow heroes...she sighed...

We only love the ones close to us...In our immediate view...

Like vamps, really...If we were honest about it...

"Our poor Will...We killed him..."

Our own true love...Our husband...We sent him away, Dawny...And killed him...

Dru was just the instrument of Fate that night...

Forged by Angelus...

"But..." she grinned...

You'll be pleased to know...I plan to avenge my husband...On all those who murdered him...Even if

my pov as regards the sanctity of human life has drastically changed in the past few days...

Angel...Drusilla...Shame about Darla, but Connor is available...

"They'll all suffer..."

Which really...Should please my Cicely no end...However much she may try to prevent it...

"Angel...Didn't kill...William..." Dawn gasped...

"But killing Angel...Cuts Angelus off from any hope of return..." Anne beamed at Dawn...

And Angelus...After the Master and Darla...began the cycle that killed my poor Will...

"So...I ask you...Daughter..." Anne smiled...

"Am I really the Evil One...? Cicely betrayed him, Buffy abandoned him...I avenge him..."

As for poor sad ole Dru...Destroying her'll be mercy, really...Releasing her at last...And save God

knows how many thousands...

Dawn whimpered a bit...Struggling feebly now...Anne draining gently from time to time, watching

her carefully...

"Say..." she grinned, lifting her head again, lips smeared... "Maybe I oughta play Buffy...Cicely in

LA...Convince Angel I'm only there to deal with Dru for William's sake...Do the noble Dru?

quest...Then stake his Broodingness just as we close in on Dru..."

Neat, huh?...And I'll have to deal with the AI gang at some point...

"Will...William will kill you...He'll never let you have Buffy...or Cicely..."

"Well..." Anne smiled gently...patting Dawn's hand...

I think he'll come round...In time...

Especially if he's the good bro?in?law I know he is...

"He'll deal...For your sake..." she smiled again...

But...For now, Dawny...As far as you know...And will tell anyone...

I'm good ole Buffy...Fighting Anne off...

"Right?..." she stared at Dawn...Who blinked...

No?...Not quite enough yet, eh...she smiled...

"Give me your hand, Dawny...That's right..." she took the slowly offered hand...

Turn it over...Hold it up to my lips...Like a good sister...

Dawn trembled but obliged...Anne sank her fangs in again, gently...

"Mustn't overdo..." she smiled after a moment...her lips bloody...

Dawn nodded wanly...

"You know, sis..." Anne patted the bloody arm...Wiping it with a napkin...

I can see why you held such a fatal attraction for Glory...

Your blood is incredible...Good thing I have such a strong will...And my two whining, pleading

sisters screaming for me to back off...

Dawn stared at her...

"Who am I, Dawn?..." Anne asked her gently...

Buffy...she replied...And...she hesitated...

Cicely...

She blinked...

"I feel..."

You're just tired, Dawny...And worried about me...I'm fighting a terrible demon inside me,

remember?...Anne patted her...

Go upstairs, clean your arm, go to bed...and forget we ever had this little talk...I seemed fine and you

know nothing else...Until I summon you...Or...

"If William tries to bring Willow in to help you...You're to find me at once...And if he tries to stop

you to tell him that you're ready to kill yourself...Which you will do if Willow tries anything or I

command it..."

"You'll keep this stake on you to do it with...Until I get you something more

effective...Understand?..." she handed the girl the stake from the floor...

Dawn nodded quietly, pocketed the stake, and started up...

"Dawn..." Anne called...

I'm...Sorry...If you were scared...

"I'm just tired...And worried about you, Buffy..." Dawn wanly replied...

And went up...

Willie the Snitch having come up with a "fixer"...Xander entered Spike's crypt with ten bags of type

O negative...Hmmn...

No sign of either blonde one...

William entered from outside...

"Harris...?" he stared at him...

"Got Buffy her blood..." Xander noted...Waving a bag...Eyeing William, who seemed rather

nervous...And empty-handed...

So...The carpenter outperforms William the Bloody in the hunt...he thought, happily...

"Where is our favorite half-vamp?...Downstairs?..."

"I think..." William paused...

"She must have gone home..."

Xander stared at him...

"Buffy went home...Like that?"

"It's just my best guess...But yeah, I think so..."

She felt...Better...he noted...More in control...

"And she was worried about Dawn..."

"She might've just stuck to using your cell phone...Was she out of her mind?" Xander frowned...

"You might say that..." William eyed him...

Not yet...Not with our Amelia in danger...She's already there, I know it...he thought...

I can't lose them...Both...Now...I'll find a way...Somehow...

"We'd better get over there...Now..." Xander shook his head...

Yeah...William nodded...

We'd better...

Deathwishes...Part XXVIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Josh Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXVIII...

Vengeance...Where to begin?...Anne sighed to herself as she sat in the Summers' living room...Dawn

in thralled sleep upstairs...

Vengeance for me...On the ones who kept me away from this world all these years and then dragged

my souls back...

Willow, Xander, Giles...Anya, if I can take her...Perhaps with Amy's help?...

Are you going to deny you've never wished Willow dead, Buffy?...For what she did?...Or Giles for

keeping you in the Slayer business...? Xander, for helping to keep you alive...?

Then there's our own little Dawny...Already my little helper...The millstone round my neck last

year, the only thing holding you here for months...Though it's true you're exiting this world for the

third time wouldn't've helped me much...

But if it weren't for her...Mom would be with us...You know it as well as I do, girls...The monks

arranged Mom's death to bind us tighter to their little creation...

However...She is our little girl reborn...I don't forget that either...And destroying her would break

poor William's heart...Not to mention lose me the one thing keeping him from turning me in to the

others...

William...

Above all...Vengeance for my...our...William...We can agree on that, right ladies?...

On Drusilla, Angel/Angelus, Darla's little bastard boy what's his name?...

And on you too, sisters...

Like I told Dawny when I took her blood...You betrayed him, Cicely...And you abandoned him,

Buffy...Our own husband...Our William...

And they'll call me the monster...she smiled within...

She walked over to a mirror...Staring deep...

"Why don't you go, girls?...It's not gonna be pretty, you know that...They'll all end up hating us..."

You wanted Heaven, Buffy...Take it...Just let go...

You've done what you set out to do, Cicely...William understands now...He forgives us...Time you

went back and waited with Buffy...He'll come to you someday...

God knows...He'll never stay with me long...she sighed...And smiled...

Singing softly...

(Hey There... by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross)

Lately when I'm in my room all by myself

In the solitary gloom I call to myself

Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes

Love never made a fool of you

you used to be too wise

Hey there, you on that high?flyin' cloud

Though he won't throw a crumb to you

you think some day he'll come to you

Better forget him, him with his nose in the air

He has you dancin' on a string

break it and he won't care

Won't you take this advice...I hand you like a mother

Or are you not seein' things too clear

Are you too much in love to hear

Is it all goin' in one ear and out the other

Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes

Spoken: Are you talking to me?

Love never made a fool of you

Spoken: Not until now

You used to be too wise

Spoken: Yes, I was once

Will you take this advice...I hand you like a mother

Or am I not seein' things too clear

Are you just too far gone to hear

Is it all goin' in one ear and out the other...

She sighs, grins, shakes her head...And looks a little coldly at the mirror...

"He's mine too, girls...Even if he doesn't like it...He knows I'm you as much as either of you ladies..."

Better be glad I love him too...Foolish as it is for me...Else he'd be gone...Poof...And God knows if

The Powers That Be would ever let you find him again...

A car pulled up...

"Guys..." she smiled into the faces of Xander and William in the doorway...William looking at her

intently...

"William, Xander...I'm sorry I left, I remembered a demon safe house near here...Got a little blood

and then I decided to check on things here..."

"I know it was stupid...But I had to..." she sighed...

Dawn's sleeping...Upstairs...she pointed...Eyeing William...

"If you want to check on her, Xander...?" she paused...

No offense taken, you know...she smiled faintly...

"So...Darling..." she beamed at William after Xander had gone up...

I see you didn't tell Xander...That was wise of you...

"How do you know I haven't told all of them...? I may have developed a half a brain along with a

soul..." he smiled back coldly...

"Xander would've shown it...He's not good at hiding his feelings and loves me too much..."

She cocked her head at him and grinned...

"C'mon Will, I know my friends...Especially my big brother..."

"Willow or Giles will figure you out soon enough even without my telling them...They're already

reviewing the exorcism...They'll drive you away..."

"Pray they don't if you love us...Cause you will lose all of me...I promise you..." she replied coolly...

"What about the Nibs?..." he eyed her...

Is she all right?...

Ssssh...she put a finger to her lips as Xander came quietly down...

Looks ok, sleeping...he noted to Will...

"You can't stay here, Buffy..." he turned to Anne...

"I know..." she nodded sadly...

"But you understand, Xander?...I had to see if Dawny was ok..."

Guess it's back to our little honeymoon cottage, eh Will?...she eyed him...Who nodded quietly...

"How's Anya...?" she turned back quickly to Xander...

"Still at it with Willow...Seems all better..."

Guess firing up her demon powers at you did wonders for her recovery...he smiled faintly...

"Good..." she paused...Staring at him...

"I am sorry, Xander..."

Guess even my human side can do evil under the right circumstances...Giving a quick grin at Will...

"Which is why you won't leave the crypt alone again, Buffy..." Xander stared at her...A sudden hard

look in his face...

Cause if I had caught you here...Alone...

"I understand..." she nodded... "And you're right, Big Brother..." she patted him...

"Can I see her...Just look in for a moment...Before we go?..." she stared at them...

"I'll go up with you..." William eyed her...

Sure...she nodded...A trace of annoyance flashing...

"Our little girl, after all..." she smiled...And turned to Xander...Who blinked at her a bit...

"He didn't tell you?..." she looked at Will...

"Thanks, honey...I did want to tell them with you..."

"Dawn is our girl reborn, Xander..." she explained...

The baby we lost in 1880...

"I'm glad you're the first to know..." she grinned shyly at him...

"You're sure it's true?..." he stared at William...

Sure as we can be until Willow and Giles do some mumbo-jumbo...Will nodded...

"It's a miracle, Xander...A long-overdue one for the Walthrops..." Anne beamed...Hugging William

to her side...

"It took a century but we're all back together...All of us..." she noted...

"Don't tell Wil or Anya yet..." she begged...

I want us to tell them all...After we let Dawn know...

He nodded...Staring...

Sleeping like a baby...Our baby...Anne smiled at Will as they carefully opened the door and looked

at Dawn...

Almost a mother's smile...At least what he'd expect Buffy's the Mom's smile would be...

She frowned at him...

"Can't believe you thought I'd...Will?..."

He trembled a bit...His face turning almost a healthy color...She caught the rage following from him

and turned to look at him...

"William?..." she stared at him...As he clamped down on her arm...

Stop it...she hissed...You're hurting me...

"You need to get something from your room...Underwear, clothes, whatever...Now!..." he hissed...

She eyed him coldly...Then turned to the stairs...As he closed Dawn's door...

"Gotta get something from my room, Xander..." she called down to him in a loud whisper...

We'll be right down...

From the living room, Xander carefully moved over to the kitchen, turned on the water, and pulled

out his cell phone...

"An..." he hissed...

"Will was right...Anne came straight here...Dawn is alive but probably under her control..."

No...he replied quietly, but with a definite trace of annoyance to her response...

She didn't catch on to me right away...

"I've gotta go...She'll suspect something...Tell Willow to keep at it...I'll call as soon as we get a line

on who's behind this..." he hung up...

In Buffy's room, Anne faced William...

Well...? she eyed him...

"For every drop you took..." Will calmly told her...

I will rip a strip of flesh from you...Unless you go, now...

She glared at him...

"Girl...I may be a human-souled vampire..." William smiled coldly...

But a vampire I remain...And I know a human happy meal in thrall when I see one...

That is not normal sleep

She nodded...Well...

"Never did think it would fool you for long, Will..."

But if you do anything to me...I'll see she kills herself...

And you lose your wife and daughter again...In one swoop...

He closed his eyes a moment and stared at her...

"Buffy...Cicely?...How can you let her do this?..."

"Yeah..." Anne nodded... "It's their fault really, right?...Good is supposed to be the stronger,

right?...And the soul girls are just sittin' here on their hands, letting me take their own child...And

hurt you..."

Can't you see how weak they really are, William?...They never fought for you...You had to do it all

yourself...

Heck, Cicely sent you into this torment...she waved at him...

Buffy didn't even try to help you after you became her lover again...

"I'm the one who loves you...In the end..." she stared at him...

I'm the one who made Cicely strong enough to return for you...Who kept Buffy going when she

wanted to die...

"And I'm the one..." she began...

"Who is murdering my daughter?..." he harshly replied, grabbing her hand...Moving swiftly up her

arm...

I can free her...Anne looked in his eyes...

"So can I...Right now..." he grabbed her by the throat...

Shall I have Xander bring me a stake?...

"Or just kill you the good old-fashioned way...You are only half-vamped after all..."

"Go...Ahead..." Anne gasped...Choking in his grip...She twisted free of his choke hold, though he

kept a vise grip on her arm...

"Go ahead, Will..." she hissed...

Kill me right now...And lose all of us...

"If it frees Dawn...I haven't lost you all...And Buffy...Cicely will find me

again...Somewhere...Someday..."

"You won't take the chance..." she smiled at him...

Not now when Cicely...Buffy is so close at last...

"I'm sorry I had to take her...I needed a little extra bargaining power...But she's alive and you've no

guarantee she won't still be mine even if this body is destroyed...A demon essence is as Immortal as a

soul, you know..."

Cooperate...And I'll let her go when all's done...Cross my heart...she grinned...

"When what's done?..." he stared at her, maintaining his grip...

And "cooperate" how?...

"I want a few days out...With you..." Anne stared at him...

A chance to show you who the real love of your existence is...

"If you choose to send me back afterwards, so be it..."

Spike got his chance with Buffy...Why shouldn't I?...

"It isn't Spike she loves..." Will eyed her...

At least not his darkest side...

"You sure about that, Willy?" she grinned...

Yes...he nodded...

"Whatever in Spike she cared for...Was a part of me..."

Anne looked at him carefully...Yes, she nodded...To his surprise...

"But...There are parts of you...That come from Spike's side...That she...We...Love..."

And that's what I want...she continued...

"A chance to show you what Buffy...Cicely gets from me..."

"What good will it do, Anne...? Do you think I'd choose you?..." he stared at her...

No...she shook her head calmly...

I know you won't...Just as Spike knew, in the end...

But...When I'm back below...Within her...Us...

You'll know...How much of me is Buffy...And that you love me, too...

Parts of me...she grinned...

"Surprised...?" she smiled... "Why?"

That's what Spike settled for, in the end...

That Buffy...Cicely would know...Part of you was him...

"You expect me to trust you...To believe that's all you want?..."

No...she smiled...

"If I can take vengeance for you on Angel and Dru...Kill the gang...Murder and enslave millions,

Take over the world...I will...You know I will, Spike..."

Heck it's what demon essences do...

Still...she sighed...

"I'm not such a fool as to believe I'll succeed...I've seen too many of us try and fail...Sooner or later,

you...Willow and Giles...Heck even the fool Council, if all else fails...Will find a way to stop me..."

I know I'm gonna lose...Just as Spike knew...

But he won that one thing...The most important thing, really...And that's what I want...And the one

thing that I will have before I go back inside her...Us...

My minimal demand...

Deathwishes...Part XXIX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXIX...

This situation...Warren noted to himself as he sat with Amy at her kitchen table...

Calls for delicate handling...

Real finesse...

On the one hand, we have our new Queen of the Partially Damned...Anne...Footloose and fancy?

free...For the moment...

A vicious killer in a half-human body, as she'd proved by wiping out their demon allies...A super

half-human body, that is...

Powerful enough to defeat practically any opponent on Earth...But a little lacking in the magics and

therefore susceptible to Willow the super-witch...

Willing to deal for now...While she needs our help...With her "best friend" the Flayer Queen...

Clone Flayer Queen, thank Amy...

But likely to be somewhat less diplomatic after the battle was won...

Still...A chick...A dumb chick...Even if an evil super chick...Was sure to be no match for the

Fearless Leader of the Trio...

And naturally would be looking for a capable, handsome male partner...

And he'd always known Buffy had a secret thing for him...Sensed it instinctively...

The babe was always coming after...er onto him, right?

Unless of course she was gay...Like her best friend...? And Buffy never had dated much,

considering her rather total hotness...

But then, the vamp boyfriends...And that guy-in-black who used to screw her...Nah, no problemo

there...

And with that certain whiff of evil to attract her new demonic nature...He was already practically in

her pants...The Evil Slayer's Consort...

On the other hand...Amy...

Who frowned, then suddenly smiled briefly at him a moment, looking up from her spell

notes...Trying to search out improvements in the blocking spell keeping Willow's exorcism from

working...And if possible, some extra protections against their new "ally"...

"What's rollin' round that head of yours, Mears?..." she sighed at him... "Already trying to figure

out how to dump me...?" she wanly grinned...

He managed to conceal a blink...My God...He couldn't help grinning back at her...

No fool, my Amy...The thought popped up involuntarily...

He mumbled a brief denial of any nefarity...

"Well, if you're really not busy scheming..." she eyed him... "You could at least give me a hand

with the research..." She pointed at a book in the rear wall bookcase...He nodded and went

over...Looking back at her as she returned to her work...

The first person since Kat...In the early days...

No match for Willow in battle of course...However cleverly she'd helped him evade her before...

Probably not much better against Anne unless she had the drop on her magically...

And though surprisingly protective of him, even one might say...Devoted...In her way...She saw him

quite clearly and had no illusions...Bitch...

And was ready to deal with him...If he stepped out of her line...

Hell, he might as well be on the Slayer's leash...Or in prison...

Though, somehow...He doubted he had anything to fear from her...

Sweet in her way...Rather beautiful...Even, despite her rage at Buffy and co and her suicidal despair,

frequently kind-hearted and often somewhat compassionate...In her sad and lost way...

In other words...Weak...Generally afraid to use what power she had, really... And likely to be more

of a drag on his plans than Anne...

Not to mention that depression thing...Likewise a drag...

Pushing him around...He, the Crime Lord and Master of the Sunnydale Universe...

Not that Anne would necessarily treat him much better...Still, he'd have the edge on her

magically...Once he recovered his old stuff...

But for now, it might be best to keep his cards hidden and his powder dry...And both Amy and Anne

in his corner...

Later he could make his final decision...

Later...he stared at her until she looked up and suggested him try reading the names of the books on

the shelf she'd told him...

The first person since Kat...In the early days...

Giles had arrived at last...To find the situation substantially worsened...

"And you feel it's best to go along with Will and Xander's judgement...? Leave Anne free to act?"

he eyed Willow from his chair at the rear shop table...The good ole family research table in their

happier days Anya noted, sighing...

And there the spot where Xander used to fall asleep in the middle of a Giles briefing...The little dent

in the table made by his head...Sigh...

"We don't know by whom or how the blocking of our exorcism was carried out, Giles..." Willow

shook her head...

If we move on Anne now...She'd take Buffy with her...Maybe Dawn too...

Yes, yes...Giles impatiently nodded, drumming fingers...I see...

"Willow, can't you hold her...In stasis or unconscious...? Surely her allies would try to find and free

her?" he rose...

"Difficult to know what other protections against magics she may have...They might be monitoring

her...And Dawn's not likely to react calmly to anything we do..."

Patience, Rupert...Willow smiled at him feebly...

He sighed and nodded, sitting again...

Rupert?...Anya eyed them...

Hmmn...What did happen between them in merrie ole England?...

"Buffy...And Cicely...Must be fighting her within...I can't believe they'd surrender to her..." he

noted...

"Maybe..." Willow nodded...

"But it's not likely a soul can overcome a demon essence...Even with two souls...Or a multi-lobed

one...And even in a half-state like this..."

"Anne has an edge over them..." Anya agreed... "Innocent souls are always seeking to rise to the

highest level they can...Heaven if possible...It's only natural instinct, even if both Buffy and Cicely

want to stay for William's sake...Whereas demon essences can't do better than Earth..."

The bottom line is...Willow summed up...We've gotta find out who is behind this...Soon...

"Else we will have to act against Anne...For Dawn's sake..."

"Can we trust William...?" Giles looked at her...

"Giles...?" Willow looked back...

"I'm not talking about Spike coming back...I mean William...He loves her, and will do anything to

keep her here, understandably..."

If it comes to choosing between destroying her body and letting Anne stay...he paused...

"He'll stop her..." Anya insisted...

He knows...Better than any of you...That the soul is what counts...He won't risk losing the love of

Buffy's...Cicely's...Even if he loses her again for a while...

"I think we can count on him, Giles..." Willow agreed... "After all, he told Xander about Anne as

soon as he could risk it..."

Though he will focus on driving Anne out...And she is probably counting on that...

"Are we absolutely sure she's unaware that we know...?"

Willow shrugged...Anya glared slightly...Impugning my Xander's performance are we?...

"Whether she knows or not...She'll be on guard..." Willow sighed...

Right then...Giles was thoughtful...

"We have to learn who did and is doing this to Buffy...?...Are there any potential candidates...?"

"The entire underworld population of Sunnydale would like to see the Slayer demonized..." Anya

noted...

Excepting one or two reformed demons...And half?demons...

"Drusilla?..." Willow eyed Giles...

She destroyed them...Or nearly did before...

"If she's learned through her Gift about Cicely...Buffy and Will..."

And she might have learned a little magics for this one...

"Possible..." Giles nodded...

And she has come to Sunnydale for Spike's sake before...

But...Revenge...And foresighted planning...On this scale...Is not really her forte...

"Have you contacted Angel or Wesley in Los Angeles?"

Anya looked at Willow...

They've been a leetle preoccupied to monitor Dru much...Willow explained...

What a brooding moron...Anya thought...Not to have realized by now that Dru is the key to his

redemption...

If it were my Xander's soul in there, why the first thing he would've done is help that poor kid...

"Some Apocalypse thing..." Willow continued..."Did you hear anything about it back in

England?..."

Oh, yes...Giles waved a hand briefly...The usual effort, nothing particularly new...

But I suppose enough to keep their hands full in LA...

"They seemed a little agitated...Maybe we should lend a hand when we've taken care of Anne and

co..." Willow noted...

Amateurs...Anya thought...

As did Willow and Giles...Somewhat less openly...

"What about Dawn?..." Giles dismissed the minor matter of the LA apocalypse...

Angel was hardly likely to request their assist in any case...Boy relished his solo hero role as much,

Giles guessed, as Angelus had loved playing Dark Prince...

"Xander couldn't say...But if Anne got there first..." Willow paused...

At least we know she's still alive...

"All right, then..." Giles nodded... "Our first goal should be to draw Anne's allies out into the

open...While seeing that she goes no further with Dawn than she already has..."

"Anya...?" he turned to her...

Hmmn?...

"You go to the Summers'...In a moment...Teleport if you feel strong enough...Tell Dawn, when she

awakes that we sent you to keep her informed, watch for a Buffy return...and..." he paused...

"What was that creature's name again?..."

Willow looked at the dozen or so volumed "Creature Anthology" on the upper shelf of the rare

books bookcase...

"I mean the one pestering Dawn...Who arranged William's death in 1880...Your friend..." he looked

at Anya...

"Halfreck..." Anya replied...A little coldly...

And she is not my "friend"...Anymore...

"Sorry..." he nodded...

But please Anya, include that in your remarks to Dawn...It's true as far as it goes...We do need to

see if this Halfreck and D'Hoffryn are involved here...

"You think D-H might have done this?..." Anya stared...A bit...

They looked at her...She shrugged...

"I mean...He's always been eager to get his hands on a Slayer demon...But he does play by

rules...And he did give me a chance to look over that material on Cicely he had..."

He didn't know about Drusilla, according to the records on Cicely...Not that he would have

hesitated to use her, of course...But...Anne's useless to him...He can't offer a pure demon

employment...The soul has to be involved, give its consent...

She paused in some embarrassment...The last words hanging in the air...She looked at the wall a

moment...

"He was involved in 1880..." Willow noted... "He approved the deal sending Halfreck to Cicely..."

And he stands to win big if Buffy gives up to Anne...Or better yet, if she turns to him for

help...Vengeance on the ones who released Anne, for instance...

"Even Buffy...Cicely's soul might give in to despair...Over Dawn...And the man she's loved over a

century..."

Anyone's might...she finished...

And flashed Anya a quick, warm smile...

Thank you...Anya's grateful look...

"Giles?...You think he was deliberately deceiving me...?" Anya bit her lip...

"We have to consider the possibility, Anya..." Giles eyed her kindly...

"Though I agree he seems to have been cooperative so far..."

"You guys understand...? I'm not sticking up for him...Just trying to narrow our list of suspects..."

Absolutely...Willow nodded...

"I know I let you guys down..." Anya looked down...

"I didn't quite see it when Xander tried to explain it to me...Heck, even Haly saw, in a way...You all

gave me a chance, believed in me...And I flopped the moment the going got tough..."

Anya...Giles began...She waved a hand... "No...It's the truth...But..."

Thank you...For giving me another chance...Letting me help...Though I don't deserve it...

"I won't let you down...Again..." Anya looked at them...

Deathwishes...Part XXX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXX...

In the living room of the Summers' home, William Soames Walthrop now witnessed two of the

world's truly remarkable performances...By actors Xander Harris and his own beloved's demonic

essence...

He'd led Anne down after their little discussion of events in Buffy's room...She rather grateful at

that for the chance to grab some changes of clothes, towels, and various sundries...

Whatever she was...And whatever her partially transformed body was...She was still Buffy enough

to retain a deep regard for personal hygiene...And style...

Xander awaited them patiently in the living room...Quite aware, as William had cautioned him in

the car on their ride over, after carefully telling him that Anne had somehow been released and

Buffy...Cicely repressed...That Buffy's...And Dawn's...lives depended on his performance as Big

Brother Xander...Still angry at a Buffy who could've allowed herself to use her partial vamp

abilities to try to restrain Anya, but too loving a brother to abandon her...

Fortunate thing that Buffy had attacked An in the end...He could let some of the anger

show...Indeed, the main factor in Will's decision to risk confiding in him first...

Well...That and the fact there was a chance he might've reached Anya in time to have her teleport to

Dawn...Anne having purloined Will's cell phone...But they'd reached the house before Willow had

finished talking to Giles' who called from his plane to learn if her exorcism had succeeded...

By then all'd agreed it was best for the gentlemen to size up the situation and for Xander to call the

shop asap once they'd seen if Anne had come and how Dawn was...

Odd...Xander noted, just before they reached him...Buffy as she was, he'd seen it right away, now

that Will had told him...Something unhealthy about her, almost like a bad vibe or something

...Almost like...

The faint trace of blood on her breath...

So that it was an even more remarkable performance that he now gave then even William realized,

knowing as Xander now did that Anne had attacked Dawn...

"All set?..." he eyed them coolly...

Yeah...Anne smiled at him from the last stair step, waving a badly overstuffed bag...

"Got a few essentials..." she grinned...

Then turned serious as she reached the floor and came over...

"You'll stay with Dawn?..." she asked...Rather sincerely both Xander and Will noted...

"An is coming to stay with her...But yeah, I'll stay till then..."

Ok...she nodded, eyeing him carefully...

"I won't try to see her again...Until Willow helps me, I promise...Xander?..."

It will be all right?...With us...Right?...she asked, pleading...

"I'll help you Buf..." he nodded... "I'll always do that...But I can't help hating what you did..."

"I know..." she looked down...Taking Will's hand as he stood beside her for support...

"But...I love you, Buf...I always will..." Xander stared at her...

"Whatever happens here..."

"Sweet guy, my Xander..." Anne smiled as she and Will strolled towards the cemetery where his

latest crypt lay...

Hope I don't have to hurt him, Will...she eyed him...A benign smile...

"You mean to say you're not planning to kill them all?...At the first chance?" he muttered, looking

at her only a moment...

"Well...Sure..." she grinned... "Can't help what I am...But it doesn't mean I don't care about him..."

"Killing him...Or the others is not likely to cause me to remember you fondly, Anne..." William

noted as they moved into downtown Sunnydale...

Well...You'll keep an eye on me, right?...she smiled...And Willow and Giles will send me back in a

day or two...

"Hard to believe you'd accept it that calmly, girl..." they turned toward the cemetery, passing

shops...

"Oh...I'll be lookin' out for my own interests, darling...I told you that...Say...?" she looked down the

street...The Bronze, with a fair-sized crowd outside...

"Lets have a little fun, Will...I'm bored with the crypt..." she indicated the crowd...

"Anne...If you think I'm taking you out...And stupid enough to take you where you'd have a crack

at multiple killings..."

"Please..." she smiled...

"I'm fresh out of Xander's drug darts...And I just wanta dance...I won't try to slip off...Cross my

heart..."

It's no safer to try to keep me bottled up in the crypt, really...I'll just get mad and end up using poor

Dawny to force you to let me out...

"Be nice to me, William...I'll be good...I promise..."

Heck, in 123 years of marriage you never took us anywhere...And I'm not asking for much...

Anya wanly eyed Xander in the Summers' living room...

"An?...You ok?..." he asked anxiously...

Leetle wobbly she smiled...Sitting down hastily on the couch...

Teleportation takes a toll even when I haven't been recently blood-drained...

"Giles says hi...And that you should go and see if you can keep an eye out on Anne and Will...Make

sure they get to the crypt and aren't followed by anyone...I'll keep watch over Dawn..."

He and Willow are still trying...she patted his hand as he sat beside her...

"Wouldn't you be a better choice?...I can't keep up with two...With a vampire and a Slayer..."

Xander hastily corrected...

"Anne would sense me on her tail...A vengeance demon leaves a pretty distinctive scent for a fellow

demon...While she's out and about in town she's less likely to sense you...Just another human..."

Same for her "friends" whoever they are...If they show...she noted...

And William's sure to try and hold her to something approaching normal human pace...

"Ok..." he sighed...

"Anya..." he paused...

I was wrong to think...he began...

"No..." she shook her head... "I couldn't handle it...I blew it...Even if I had a good reason..."

And sooner or later...If I stay in the profession...I'm bound to hurt somebody...

"If I can get D-H to release me after we take care of Anne...I will..." she eyed him...

Then, someday...Maybe...

We could talk?...she looked hastily away towards the wall, then up to where Dawn's room lay...

"I'd like that..." he nodded...

Well...Other matters more pressing just now...she smiled back at him...

"For now...Just be careful...'Cause if you get hurt...If she hurts you...Anyanka will be back in

form...I swear it..." she grimly stared at him...

And Anne will learn why vamps stay clear of vengeance demons...

"Let her know that if anything goes wrong...For her own sake..."

"I'm a lucky guy..." Xander grinned...

"Well..." Anne grinned...As she and William stood by a table...

Our first night out as a couple again...

"You don't even go to the ladies room without me, girl..." he told her in a grim whisper...

"Oooh..." she chuckled...Such a domineering type...

"If I had known this back in 1880..."

But then Cicely was quite the little...

"Enough..." he hissed... "I will take just so much of you, Anne..."

She smiled benevolently at him...Sweetheart...she breathed...

"You're stuck with me...I come with the package..."

I've been trying to tell you that...Though you of all people should know it...Spike...

A dark-haired young man passed by...Leading a somewhat spacey girl...

"Why, look who's here..." Anne turned to look at the couple...

Parker!...she called pleasantly...

"Buffy?..." he stared back...A nervous look quickly appearing...

After all...Last time they'd met...

"Nice to see ya...Meet my husband, William..."

Deathwishes...Part XXXI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXXI...

"So...Parker...How's it hanging these days?...You still knocking em up every night?..." Anne

grinned at Parker and his somewhat dim girlfriend, who blinked slightly at the "knocking-up..." She

having pressed the rather nervous Parker to join the newlyweds for a beer...Will, to her faint

surprise, not opposing the request...While the girlfriend, cast a now somewhat less glazed eye at the

handsome blonde guy who seemed a little cool towards his pretty new bride...

Just teasin' my ole lover, sweetie...Anne beamed at the girl...

"How long were we together, Parker?...I kinda forget...Two, three years?..." Anne gave a staring

Parker a puzzled look...

"Or was it hours...? With you, it's hard to remember..."

Will for his part was pleased to see Anne a touch distracted...Having caught sight of potential help,

at least in terms of reaching Willow and Giles...

If he'd just come this way...Yeah...Damn, turning away...Come on, come on your stupid mass of

loose...

"Clem ole fellow!..." He smiled broadly at the dog-eared demon as he passed near...

"Spike!...er William?..." Clem beamed happily...

Great to see ya, fella...He pounded his back...

"Slayer...How are you?" Clem extended a paw...

Clem...Anne smiled frostily, hastily slipping back towards Parker...

Best to dodge this one...He'd be likely to spot her demon nature, at least...she thought...Stupid

enough to talk about it to the others...

If Will hadn't already gotten word out...

"Little dangerous for you to be here, isn't it?..." she eyed the demon, pasting a slightly warmer,

concerned look on her face...

Course she could always take him aside and kill him...But William would intervene, there'd be hard

words and fighting, and she was sincere about wanting to just hang back and be with him for a

bit...Before things got messy again...

Nah, Clem beamed...Everybody likes me here...They think I'm an actor or something...

Ummn...Circus, actually...he adroitly recovered for the sake of Parker and his girl...Seeing Will's

look...

"Escort me over to the ladies room, hubbie..." Anne smiled at Will, winking at Parker's girl...

Hates to leave my side...she smiled, wryly pointing a thumb at him...

Clem blinked...Hub...? And say what was odd about Slayer...? Hmmn...

William edged past Clem and brushed him slightly as Anne preceded him through the crowd...

Hmmn...Clem looked at Will's napkin in his paw...

"You come here often?..." Parker's girlfriend eyed the tall circus performer in his rather neat

"costume"...Parker having turned to watch Buffy and her "hubbie"?... leave...

Unnh...Xander sighed, looking round Will's new crypt...

Not a sign of William or Anne...The unhappily reunited Walthrops must be out on the town,

celebrating their joyless reunion...

No way to contact William safely, even if Anne hadn't swiped his phone earlier she'd never let him

out of her sight...Her dear hubby...

His phone buzzed...

"Xander?..." Willow's voice...

"Were you able to ...?"

Lost them...he cut in...

"They never made it back to the crypt...Unless maybe they're on their way..."

"They're at the Bronze..." Willow began...

The Bronze?...

"Are you tracing them...?"

Nah, Will slipped a note to ole Clem...Willow explained...

"He called us..."

Anya eyed the heavily sleeping Dawn carefully though the half open bedroom room...Enthralled, no

doubt about it...

Poor Buffy...she sighed to herself...She'll never forgive herself for this...And with her Slayer's ego...

Poor kid...

Still, if all works out and we can help her...She's got her true love back after a century...

There are worse things...She turned away, closed the door quietly and headed back down to the

living room...Pulling out her phone...

"Willow?..." she spoke into the mouthpiece...

Anya?...

"There's no doubt about it...Dawn is enthralled..." Anya told her sadly...

"Anya..." Giles cut in... "Whatever happens, do not let her leave the house...Use a spell...Knock her

unconscious if you must...But don't let Anne get her hands on her again..."

Ok...

"Giles...?" Anya hesitated... "Buffy...Has taken human blood now...I mean, pure human...Not

demon-human like mine..."

"Yes...And it will make restoring her more difficult...Especially if Anne takes more...But we'll do

all we can to save her...Just keep your eyes on Dawn for now...We'll keep you informed..."

Right...Call me if you need me to try and deal with her...

"All it takes is a wish, you know..." she tried to keep a light tone...

"Thank you, Anya...You're a good friend..." Willow had taken the phone...

And a wonderful human being...

"If you knew all the times I've sat here, through the years, looking through Buffy's eyes...Thinking

how neat it would be to have my chance, take control, and join the vamps she was trying to stake oh

so quietly...The look on people's faces seeing us turn from savior to massacrer..." Anne noted rather

wistfully to William at their new seat on the other side of the Bronze from where they met Parker

and Clem earlier...

"Spike would have got such a charge out of me if he coulda brought me out then...Don't you

think?..." she grinned...

And the one time Buffy was transformed for a little while...When she lived a nightmare as a

vampire, I didn't even get my chance then...She never lost control...Unfair, really...she pouted...

"As is this crazy situation...Two of them holding me down, keeping us from full transformation...I

knew the Powers That Be liked to have their little torment games, but geesh..."

Nice music tonight, huh?...she twisted to view the band...

"Anne..." William paused... "You said you wanted your chance to show me you're a part of

Buffy...And Cicely..."

"If anyone would believe that, I would...Just as I know Spike is a part of me..."

She eyed him...

"I accept that...And I love you, Buffy...But, Anne...you have to let Dawn go...And release Buffy and

Cicely...If you really want to have me "think fondly of you..."...Do this for me..."

"Maybe I will, honey...Lets see what happens..." she smiled...

But...Buffy's had human blood now...And the longer she's even part vamp, the harder it will be to

restore her to good ole super-Humanity...she noted...

"If she dies...If her soul leaves and you stay...I will stake you myself..." William replied...

"You can try..." she grinned... "And she's already dead...Three times..."

Bitch sister just won't stay down in that grave...she sighed...

"All for love of you, you know..." she looked at him... "Even when she didn't consciously remember

you..."

He stared at her...

"Thank you..." he nodded to her quietly...

Don't mention it...she turned back to watch the band...

Xander watched from his vantage point, carefully hidden from their direct view...For once glad to be

the guy nobody paid much attention to...

Nobody except...Good ole...

"Xander!...Hey, fellah..." Clem patted his shoulder...

"Did the wiccan lady get hold of Spike okay?...They're over there..." he pointed...

"Clem..." Xander grabbed his arm...

"Slayer's smelling real strange...Did she pick up a demon recently...?" Clem asked innocently...

"Ummn...Look, lets just sit down a minute here..." Xander waved him to a table...

Deathwishes...Part XXXII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXXII...

"In 676..." Willow began...Reading a manuscript carefully as Giles listened...

"Theodosia of Amyra, the Cobbler's daughter, the Chosen One...Was contaminated by a Dark

One...Dying...Her fiend rising from Hell to claim her as its own..."

"Her aide and lover...The scholar Maximian...My, Watchers and Slayers were close in those days..."

she grinned at Giles...

"Used a cleansing ritual to drive her foul demon back to the Gates of Hell...And saved her..."

To carry on God's work until she died of plague in 679...she looked up...

Hmmn...Magics has its limitations...she thought...

"Is the ritual given...?" he eyed her...

Hmmn...she thumbed the pages...Hmm-hmmn, she nodded...

Whoa...That would clean anybody out...she stared at the manuscript...Drano for demons...

"It's...Preety potent, Giles...Could do some damage in there..."

"If it will drive Anne back, we must try..." he told her firmly...The phone rang and he went over...

"Angel...?...Thank you for calling back..."

Finally calling back...Willow thought...Looking over the manuscript...

"No, Angel...Buffy is not "doing better"..." Giles sighed...

Nice to know he still remembers her name...Willow looked up from the ritual instructions...

"No...Spike is not the cause..." the Watcher gave Willow a slightly sour look... "Did you get my last

message...? I thought I was fairly explicit..."

Oh...Busy with the Apocalypse...Yes...Giles nodded...

Oooh...Willow rolled her eyes...Apocalypse by Evil Lawyers...Scary...

"Well...William has his soul back...Yes, that is confirmed, Angel...And we've learned some

surprising things about their joint past..."

Didn't he tell him about Cicely and the marriage thing before when he called about Dru...? Willow

stared over...

Great...I get to be there...she grinned to herself...

"But first, did you check on Drusilla...Is she still in LA...?"

You know, Angel...Willow thought, eyeing Giles...Your most lamented victim...The one you never

seem to find time to release or help in any way...

"Good...That rules her out, probably...What?...Oh, that's very nice, Angel...I hope Connor finds

UCLA an enjoyable experience..." he frowned over to Willow...

Yes...I'll tell Buffy he was accepted...he drummed fingers on his desk...

"Yes...I'm very glad to hear you and he have worked things out, Angel..."

Oh...? Well...That's wonderful that the Apocalypse failed when he took Joseph's book away...You

must be very proud...

"Not even a battle at all, thanks to him, eh?...That's very nice...Always good when an Apocalypse

plan ends without any bloodshed..." he eyed Willow...

Willow stared back...

"No..." Giles gritted his teeth... "Dawn is not dating anyone just now...But I don't think she'd be up

for a date with Connor soon...In fact, right now she's been enthralled by her own sister's demon..."

You do remember that I mentioned Buffy had partially transformed and her demon essence had

taken control...?

"Good..." Giles noted...

"Well...It seems demon Anne has enthralled Dawn and may kill her and take Buffy's body

permanently if we don't drive her out...Soon..."

Bloody stupid...That's what Botty used to call him...Willow thought...Smart girl, our poor Botty...

"Someone is blocking our efforts to repress Anne...Possibly turned the spell we used against

Buffy/Cicely..."

"Buffy...Cicely..." Giles repeated... "Cicely is Buffy's past life name...That's right, Angel..."

Anyway...We may need the ceremony Wolfram-Hart used to resurrect Darla...As I told you in my

last five messages..."

Yes...For Buffy...Giles sighed...Willow rolling her eyes...

"Do you have it or can you get it or can you tell us where we must go to get it?..." he asked

patiently...

Yes...By all means...Put Wesley on...Please...

Please...Willow thought...

"Certainly I can wait...By the way, Angel..." Giles paused... "Did I mention that Cicely and William

were married back in 1880...?"

"Hitting it rather hard, aren't you...?" Will eyed Anne as she ordered another round...Boilermakers...

"I don't get out much, honey...Remember?..." she replied...Mildly annoyed...And slightly...Well,

more than slightly...Drunk...

"Lemme have a lil' fun...Geesh..." the loveamylife is turned to a crashin' soulful bore...she stared

round...Ah, now there's a fun-lookin' guy...

"Hey...!" she called over... "Wanna make out with a demon from Hell...? Ina human body?...Super-

chuman..." she proudly noted...

Well...Maybe half-human...But preety super...

Stupor-human if she keeps this up...Will thought...

"I wont killya...If yer nice to me..." she called to the rather good-looking...Tall, she noted to Will

cattily, drunkenly cattily...young man...A few people eyeing her now...

Oh, that Summers girl...Several recognized her...Up to her usual thing...They turned back to their

drinks or partners or both...

The young fellow looked at William then turned away...

"Hey?..." Anne called... "You gay or what?..."

Anne...Will hissed...

"Nobody loves ole Annie..." she shook her head sadly... "Evil ole Annie...Just doin' what comes

naturally..."

But they all love...Buf...fy...she ground the name out...Shaking her head sarcastically...

Miss...A waiter came over...

Xander and Clem watching from their hiding spot...Back behind some pillars...

Fresh out of Hell...Clem noted to his companion...A little early for alcohol...

"It's alright...My wife isn't used to alcohol...I'll be taking her home...Now..." Will smiled at

him...He nodded...

Anne waved the man off with a hand as he returned to the bar...

"I should just kill everybody in da place...And I could..." she noted to William... "But I made my

hubby a promise..." she noted solemnly... "And we demons keep our word...Right, Spike?..." she

eyed him...

"You tried to kill us...But you never lied to us...Right...?"

No...He never did...William nodded...

"Time to go, girl..." he rose...

Ok...she sighed...Illiam..she stared at him...Illiam she giggled...

Must be getting on, girl...he urged her...

Liam...she gasped suddenly, hand to mouth...Jesus...No wonder we thought...And he had a soul,

too...

Just stuffed inside stead of hanging round...she noted to Will...

You mean?...He stared at her...You...Buffy and Cicely?...Thought Angel was...

We were lookin' for you right from the start, honey...Sub...ronchiously...she shook her head...

"Liam...William...Can you beat that...? Well, what's ina name?...Huh?" she asked him...

Well...he took her arm...We should discuss this part back...Home...Ok?...

Sure...she nodded, but stopped, pulled back a bit, and looked up at him... Say...

"You know I'm part of Buffy...Dontcha...?"

" 'Cause I am...And of...Cicely..." she affected a drunken British accent on the "Cicely..."...Raising

her nose in the air a bit...

I know...Will nodded...

"And you love 'em?...Both of 'em...?" she asked...Staring at him...

Yes...he offered an arm which she woozily took...

"So..." she eyed him as they walked slowly towards the door... A bit less glassy...

"You must love me...A lil' bit...?"

We love Spike...Even they do...The others...A lil' bit...she noted...hopefully...he realized...

"Yes..." he stared back at her...A little kindness in his voice for the first time...

"I must love you a little too..."

Then...she paused...Looking round the place with a regal, if drunken air...

I'll spare 'em...Tonight...

"For you, William..."

And I ain't even gotta chip...she pointed out...

"Thanks, Anne..." he nodded... "But we should go..."

Yeah...Crypt sweet crypt...she giggled...

"Watch that bastard, girlie...!" she called as she caught sight of Parker with his girlfriend...As they

headed to the door...

Xander and Clem quietly following, staying to the back of the room...

Not that it seemed likely she'd notice them just right now...Even if they fell down in front of her...

Deathwishes...Part XXXIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXXIII...

He's handling himself pretty well, considering what must be his abject terror...Amy thought, eyeing

Warren as he sat with her on the sofa in her apartment watching TV...

Only his constant channel flipping revealing his anxiety...Natural enough, after all...

Since Anne told us last night that Willow was back in Sunnydale...

This could almost be any normal at home date...she thought involuntarily...

Excepting of course we're a mad science nerd and suicidally depressed witch plotting how to destroy

another, more powerful witch and company...Take over a town and access its hell-spawned

power...And handle negotiations with our "partner"...A mad killer demon in a super human body...

"So...Thanks for dinner...It was great..." he paused in his surfing...Catching her by surprise...

She couldn't help a shy smile...

"Thanks..."

"Well.." he halted at the Sci-Fi channel... "Nothing's on til eight..."

Any new ideas regards Willow...? he asked her...Only a slight catch in his voice...Though she saw

the haunted look in his eyes...

A slight protectiveness crept into her voice...Reassurance...Without her awareness...

"As long as none of them know you're still alive...There's no reason they'd be looking for you...And

only a slight chance they'd trace my blocking their exorcism to me...But I think Anne was

right...Our only chance would be to catch Willow off-guard..."

Catching Rosenberg "off-guard"...he sighed at that one...

"Difficult...Even if she doesn't know Anne's running the show now..." he noted ruefully...

And I can't believe our maniac "ally" is gonna be able to play poor sweet Buffy, trapped in that

nasty half-vamp body, for long...The demon will out, whatever she says about "waiting for our

chance"...

Or worse, Anne might yet lose out to the soul sisters...

"You might be right..." Amy noted...

Hmmn...Maybe...Maybe now's the time to suggest we rethink the whole thing...she thought...And

go...While we still can...

Anne just doesn't seem that reliable a partner...

She eyed Warren...If he'd just accept it...Take what he's won and leave the table...With me...I might

even be able to bargain for our lives with Willow in exchange for helping Buffy...From a safe

distance...

Wait...Warren paused...

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way..."

Well?..Anything?...Willow asked for the fourth time in ten minutes...Hovering about Giles as he

reviewed the material Wesley had emailed...

Giles sighed up at her...Sorry, she smiled wanly...You know...

"It's all right..." he shook his head...

"This procedure would at best be a drastic last-ditch effort...We'd have to literally kill Buffy in

hopes of restoring her...And we'd lack the kind of control the Wolfram-Hart senior partners could

exert over Darla's demon...Anne might win the race for the resurrected body as well..."

And there's no guarantee Buffy could be resurrected yet again...he gave a wry smile...

The Powers That Be have to set some limits on such things...

"So...Back to the ole drawing board..." Willow nodded...

Willow...Giles eyed her...

"You know that even if we can drive Anne out...Buffy is well on her way to full transformation...We

may not be able to reverse that..."

"Are you prepared to leave her trapped, possibly forever, in that...Like Angel and William...?" he

paused...

"She told us she didn't want to die, Giles...No matter what...She wants to stay with Will...and us...As

long as we get Anne out of her way, your Slayer is ready to keep on fighting...As long as it takes..."

There's no deathwish in her this year...she smiled at him...

He nodded...

Or in me...she thought, staring at him...

The effects of the Bronze's boilermakers had faded to a considerable extent by the time William had

gotten Anne back to the safety of the dear crypt...Though she continued to sing a tune she'd taken up

since they'd set out for..."home"...

"Hey there...You...Wida stars in your eyes..." she warbled...As they entered, William giving a polite

but cold, "after you"...

Not anxious for another sticking in the back, thank you...he noted...She glared...

That was just cruel neCicely...she giggled...Two human lifeforces fightin' me inside, you guys

against me out here...Had to have some bargainin' power, honey...

"Luv neva made a foola you..." she continued as she walked in, stumbling just a bit...

He quietly eyed her as they sat down on separate slabs...

I used to be too wise...she looked at him...A trace of genuine sorrow in her eyes, he realized...

Well...she eyed him...Dawn's not dead yet...And if yer nice to me...she paused...A coy look...

"You're not dead yet...That's as "nice" as I can do right now..." he noted coldly...

She sighed...Lifting her legs up onto the slab and folding them under her as she sat...

"Weren't you ready to do anything?...All those lost years?...Even help Spike kill...To stay here on

miserable ole Earth...For Cicely...And Buffy?..." she looked at him quickly, glanced round the

crypt...Then back at his startled...And slightly shamed face...

"See...Will...I do know you pretty well..." she looked away...

Spike didn't come forth out of nothing...

"Anymore than I did..."

"I didn't...I don't...Want or wish to kill..." he rose from his slab...

But you didn't want Spike to be destroyed...she noted...Not until you'd found your Cicely...And you

had your secret hates...Mind, I'm not saying you got his pleasure out of the kills...Just that you did

what you could to keep him from stumbling into somebody's stake...

"Can't hide your dark side from your own demon, Will...Or your wife's..."

He stared at the ground, quietly...

"I had to find her...You, Cicely...Somehow I knew I couldn't go until I did..." he paced a bit, Anne

watching...

As long as I stayed round Spike...Nothing was decided...It might still not be true...You might still

care...You might come for me...But if I'd let go...And you weren't waiting for me...

"Always the romantic..." Anne smiled...With a trace of sympathy...

"So are we, Will..."

He paused...

"Are you trying to say that Buffy..."

"She was ready enough to attack Anya...That wasn't me running things then..." Anne cocked her

head at him...

You humans...she giggled a little...So pretentious...So ready to deny us...And all we are is a part of

you...The dirty little secret part...

"So...How's about a little you and me...Babe...?" she stretched out on the slab...Spreading her hair

out...

"Show me there's still a demon in there..." she turned on her side, giving him a fiercely narrow-eyed

look...And showed a distorted but still mostly human face...Only the fangs a truly demonic feature...

She's still hanging on...William thought...They're still with me...

He eyed her...Without a word...

"Oh...You'd like it put a leetle less demonly, right?" she grinned...Resuming fully human face...

I would like to be fucked now, sweetheart...Please?...she batted her eyes at him...

"Take me, my little Victorian husband...I'm ready to lie back and think of England..."

"The gentleman politely declines..." William eyed her...

"As his wife might object..."

She sat up hurriedly...A dark look on her face...

And yet, definitely some hurt there...he noted...

"I am your wife...And there's common consensus on this among us, or would be if the others were

free to speak out...Even Cicely's dying for her Will, I assure you..." Anne finished with a British

accent...

Besides...she looked at him narrowly...

"Buffy screwed Spike, without a thought of the violation she was doing to you..." Anne smiled

coldly at him...

"She thought...At the time...William was long gone..." he replied...

Really...Anne smiled again...Did she...?

He looked at her...

"Why do you think Cicely came back in this body, Will?...Do you think she tried every Slayer who

came after 1880?"

No...she shook her head...Though we would've if we'd had to...But...Practical girl, that we are...she

beamed...

He stared...She'd got his attention now, she noted with a grin...

"We were very careful in our targeting of the right moment for rebirth...See, you don't get many

chances...And what with the need to grow to adulthood, the difficulty in recovering the lost

memories...It ain't a very efficient way to go about linking up with your loved ones...But it was all

we had...After Cicely couldn't find you in Heaven...And I couldn't feel you in Hell...And we knew

you, the soul, were still stuck on Earth...Clinging on to Spike...Trying to find us there..."

Your wife searched Heaven, Hell, and Earth for you, Walthrop...she grinned...

"Not bad for a "Bloody Awful Poet"..."

And I was part of that targeting effort...The one who could most easily follow Spike and

Drusilla...And know when there'd be a chance...A slight chance...

"Then the other Slayers...Weren't..."

"No...You didn't kill me, Will...Heck, I'm the Greatest Slayer of All Time, twice over...You're the

one who was in danger of being killed, little poet...If not for me, pressing Buffy to keep our hot little

vampire alive, you might've been..." she sneered...

But there was something behind that sneer, he realized...She was actually trying to be...

"I was worried about the Slayers...It would have been much harder for me...If they had

been...You..." he nodded to her...

"We wouldn't've minded being killed by Spike...If we'd failed..." she hastily finished...Not looking

at him now...

"Thank you...For helping, Anne..." he told her quietly...

"I had a stake..." she shook her head...Then stared back at him...

"You're mine, too..."

Deathwishes...Part XXXIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly

need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

At the Summers' Anya carefully eyed the heavily sleeping Dawn from the barely cracked open door

of her bedroom...

At least a little bit more natural sounding now...She quietly closed the door and tip-toed downstairs...

Her cell phone buzzed...

"Hi...How's she doing...?" Xander asked...

"Bout the same...But no worse...Is everything all right?...Are you still watching Anne and Will...?"

"Clem and I are outside Will's new crypt..." he replied...Nothing dangerous seems to be going down

as yet...

"Anything new from Willow and Giles?..." he asked...

Haven't heard a thing for a while...she paused...

"Don't take any chances, Alexander...Please..."

She got the better of me...and William...Already once...And you're a lot more breakable...

"No offense intended..." she finished...

"I'll be ok..."

"This isn't Willow raging with grief, Xander...Don't expect Anne to go for your Man of Love

bit...It's a different situation..."

"It isn't Love I'll use with Anne..." he grimly noted... "But I will be careful...And we do need

someone to keep a watch on her besides Will..."

Yeah...she sighed...

"An...Thank you...For still caring...After all that's..."

"Don't get any ideas, Mr. Harris..." she interrupted hastily...

I'm not as selfless as I was when I first worked for D'Hoffryn...she paused...

"I expect a full return on the caring thing..."

"You got it..." he smiled into the phone... "Gotta go, have Willow call me whenever...Clem says hi

and to watch Miss Dawny like a hawk..."

I think Buffy may have to speak to Dawn about him when all this is over...he grinned over at his

partner...Clem blushing a bit...

"Ok...Will do, Clem...Bye, bye...Iloveyou..." she finished hurriedly, shutting off the phone...

The phone buzzed...she grinned...Opening it...

"Was that for Clem...Or me?..."

"Don't let Buffy's maniac demon kill you and you'll find out..." she replied...And closed the

phone...

I dunno...Amy eyed Warren...

"Come out in the open...?...Let them know you're alive and we're involved...?...That's your

strategy?..." Amy eyed Warren as he paced in her living room...

This sounds like the sort of scheme he'd've tried last year...Before he learned the hard way...Geesh,

not even crazy Anne had offered this approach...Watch and wait for the moment to catch Willow off

her stride having been her general suggestion in their brief meeting...

"She's gonna find us out...And come for us...Sooner or later..." Warren replied... "This way, we

control the when and the where...And we have Anne as back-up..."

And we don't have to give the whole game away...Just throw her enough rope to let her hang

herself...Or let us hang her...Like the good ole days, back in Salem...

Amy frowned at him...And don't I know how quick Puritan Mears would've handed me over back

then...

"Warren...I can't fight her...Not on equal terms...I wouldn't stand a chance...Much as I appreciate

your confidence in me..."

And as for Anne...She'd throw us to Willow in a minute...she paused...

"You've said there's not much more you can do to drive the soul sisters out of our partner..."

Warren noted... "If we sit around here, waiting for Willow to drive Anne back...When Buffy must

know now, from her insane counterpart, who's behind this...We're dead..."

This way...We have a chance to catch her...If we're careful...And whatever else Anne's up to, she

wants Willow out of her way...She'll help us...Up to a point...

"It's the only chance we have to win it all..." the former Fearless Leader of the Trio took an air of

resuming his post...

"And I say we take it...Besides...I'm the one who'll be putting his head up..."

And I thought I was the suicidal one...Amy thought...

Back at the Box, Giles and Willow had decided on a rather dangerous course of action...But the only

one open to them for the moment...

To try and reach the soul(s) trapped within Anne...And perhaps, learn who was behind the assault

that had led to Buffy's partial transformation and had blocked their attempt to drive Anne out...

But it held risks...That Anne might easily sense their efforts and take action, using Dawn

perhaps...That the soul(s) hold on Buffy's body might be still further weakened...And that who- or

whatever had assisted Anne might learn of Willow's communication attempts and attack while she

was in a preoccupied trance state...

But it was that...Or try the "Drano for demons" elixir which, as Willow noted, was as likely to kill

as cure...

In the crypt, William contemplated what Anne had told him...As his fair lady achieved a rather

remarkable decibel level in her snoring on the central slab...Out cold almost as soon as she'd laid her

head back down after another request for the immediate restoration of intimate relations with

her...Or at least her human counterpart's...Past life hubby...

Cicely searching for me...All those years...

Through Earth, Heaven, Hell, and finally, as Buffy, Earth again...

My God...What a little sot...A cowardly little sot...Cicely'd been back then...He glared at

her...Peacefully Buffy as she slept...Sn...Ork!...she trumpeted, a little drool running...Charming...

Actually just the same as she was in the crypt last year...And I thought it was a side effect of Death,

those snores...Hmmn...Did Cicely used to snore like that?...I think I remember her drooling...

God...Not to tell me right off about the Slayer thing when she married me...All this time

wasted...Just because she was afraid of losing me, then of getting me killed...

Way to go, sweetheart...he thought...Just see how your little plan worked out...

Though my fighting skills have been considerably improved, I must admit...Courtesy my dear

counterpart, Spike...I can fight with her now, help her...Not be an utter millstone to her...

Dear God...He paused, a smile dawning...

They all love me...All three of them love me...he caught himself...The joy briefly flooding him in

spite of everything...

Worth waiting a century to hear?...Factoring in the incredible torment of those horrible years with

Spike running things...?

Definitely...he grinned at her...

Poor Annie...he thought for a moment...

No...He raised a hand...No...She's counting on that...It's exactly what she expected...Hell, Spike

would do it that way were our roles reversed again, with a little more Billy Idol bad-boy posing

perhaps...

Well, no...Not quite fair to my counterpart...The playing on natural sympathy is really more

Angelus' style...Like when he got poor Dru to let him into her convent...

Still...I believe she loves me...Why not...I know Spike loves Buffy still and always...I am Spike after

all...Every bit as much as I am William...Even if he's run back to Hell, he's still a part of me...

"God...Let us manage this easily...Don't force us to hurt her too much...For Christsake...For Christ's

sake...Be a decent sort for this once, you miserable white-bearded bastard..."

Have a little mercy on my poor wife's darker self, God...You created her, after all...

All three of her...My personal Trinity...

No offense, Lord...But I'll take my Buffy-Cicely-Anne over you, your boy, and that dove spirit

anyday...

And I was afraid she'd abandoned me...he shook his head...

Thank God for British pluck...Both hers and mine...

An Earth-shattering snore...!...Whoa!...he blinked over at her slab...She lay on her side...Mumbling a

little, then silent...

Hmmn...Must remember to get her some of those nose strip things...

And I ought to find her a blanket...

Plenty back where she had me tied up and covered with them...

His phone buzzed...He eyed it, then her...Nothing...Then back to it...Opening it carefully...Backing

away to a corner...

"William?..." Giles asked...

"Giles...?"

"Anne?..."

Apparently...Asleep...But I would avoid any major strategy conferences just right now with her

around...he noted in a whisper...

"Asleep?...That's excellent..." Giles, at the Box, turned to Willow, giving her a gentle nod...

"You can try now, Willow..."

"Xander...?" Clem quietly nudged him, back from a quick coffee run...

Thanks...he nodded, taking a cup...

"Slayer and Spike still in there?..." Clem eyed the crypt entrance as he sat down behind a large

monument...

Yeah...All's quiet on the crypt front...For now...Xander rubbed his eyes and took a swallow...

"Any word on Miss Dawny...?" Clearly Clem's main focus, Xander noted...

"An says she's still quiet and sleeping..." he smiled kindly at the demon...

"Say, Clem..." he paused... "Thanks for helping us...I want you to know we appreciate it..."

Especially Buffy and Dawn...

"But...Can I ask you a question?..." he eyed him...Clem looked back...Hmmn?...

"How come you're with us...?...No offense...But you're a demon..."

"Dawny and Slayer've always been nice to me..." Clem shook his head... "I don't like to see them

go the evil way...Changing..."

Not all of us go the evil way, you know...he smiled at his companion...

"You were human once, right?..." Xander stared at him...

"Long time ago..." he nodded... "But I wasn't anybody special...It was no great loss..."

"How...?"

"I used to be a clown...One day I scared a little boy at his birthday party...I was in my clown suit and

he got scared...Choked..." Clem sighed...

His mother wanted vengeance and well...You see the rest...

Ummn...Xander blinked...

"It wasn't...?"

Hmmn?...Oh...Nah...That other one...Halfreck?...She did it...What I deserved, I guess...I should've

been more careful with the little ones...

"Anyway...It's not so bad...I got to see the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries..." Clem smiled...

And I always seem to make friends wherever I wind up...

"It's not the demonic outside that matters, after all...It's whether there's a soul or a monster inside...I

was lucky enough to keep the most important part...Not like those poor vamps..." he shook his

head...

They can't help what they do, you know...And it's worse with somebody like Spike...His soul

hangin' round like that, having to watch it all...Poor guy...And now to see Slayer like that...

He sighed...

"It's easier when they're all demon...They don't suffer..."

He smiled wanly at Xander...

"Guess my pov's a leetle different from yours...But I don't like to see anyone hurt...In pain..."

I've been thinking a lot of things over myself recently...Xander noted...

"Regards vamps and demons as well as humans..."

I can't say I don't want to see vamps destroyed and people safe...he paused...

But I wish...There was a way...A better way than Slaying...

Clem nodded...Still, he noted...

"They really do want to die, Xander...Well...Their souls want peace at least...Slayer does give em

that..."

Yeah...

"Maybe..." Clem paused... "Maybe just lettin' them know you care...That you don't hate

'em...You're just tryin' to help 'em..."

They were all people once...Some of them, preety nice people...

"She loves him..." Xander eyed the crypt... "That's why she's still here...Not gone off to hide from

Willow and Giles...Even though she must know they'll get her in the end...She's a monster...But

she's ready to die, demonwise at least...Just to be with him for a little while..."

Well...Strong hell-demon, that lady...Clem frowned...And the Slayer's body...I wouldn't take odds

against her just yet...Or sit back and let her finish with Miss Dawny...

Xander nodded ruefully...Still...

"Spike was the same way...He knew how it would end if he stayed in Sunnydale, near her...He knew

exactly what he was doing when he went to Africa, I'm sure of it..." Xander sighed...

He gave it all up for her...Gave up and handed things back over to William...Just to make her

happy...

Nobody loves like a counterpart demon from Hell...Clem smiled...When they manage to love

someone...It has to be the real thing...

Xander shook his head...So strange when you think about it...Monsters from Hell...Who can love

enough to die for their beloved...Condemn themselves back to Hell for all Eternity...

Could I even begin to approach that kind of love?...Me, who gave up on poor An so easily...

"Do you think...?...Does Spike..." he began...

"Does he know Buffy loves him too?..." Clem nodded... "Sure...He's part of William, Xander...So

he must know, even from Hell..."

I'm glad...Xander nodded...

Deathwishes...Part XXXV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1

and on first to be sure...

Part XXXV...

In the back training room of the Magic Box...

The blood-curdling scream that now merged from the entranced Willow's lips might well have unnerved most men...But Giles had expected something of that sort...Buffy's soul being hardly likely to be enjoying its helplessly repressed condition...Not to mention Cicely...

He calmly monitored the wiccan while checking to see that his tape recorder was getting her cries and comments...Anne would probably be interrupting the link quickly and anything they could get from the trapped souls was likely to be in fragments...

Willow trembled, staring at nothing... "William!...William, forgive me!..." she screamed...

I love you...We love you...Dual voices, perhaps more, forcing their way up...

"I didn't...William...We didn't kill her...!"

Please...Please...she gasped...

"Buffy?..." he called to her gently... Buffy?...

"Can you hear me?..."

Willow stared at him...Blankly...

"We didn't kill her...Tell him..."

Yes...Giles nodded...

"Dawn will be alright..."

She stared at him...Blinking...

"I...We told Henry...Amelia...Amelia is her name...After Will's sister..."

Yes...he nodded again...I understand...

"Amelia is your daughter's name...?"

Amelia...she repeated...Then a distortion...

"Giles...!...Don't..." she gasped...

"Buffy?...Or is it you, Willow?..."

William...Must...He must...she forced the words out...

"Buffy?...How can we help you?...Who is helping Anne?..." Giles grabbed Willow firmly...

Forgive us...she sighed...Forgive...me...

She paused, opening her eyes wide...Willow?...Giles stared at her...

"I'm sorry I'm so weak...Giles..." she replied in a faint voice... "But I can't...Not yet..."

"Buffy?..."

Her face distorted again...A series of moans, cries, with clear words interspersed...

A dark, grim look...

"Enough, guys...You've had your fun..." a sneer...

"Anne?..." Giles eyed her...

"Break this link...Now...Or I will...The hard way..." she replied...

"NOW!...Giles!..." she screamed at him, trying to rise...He stared back at her calmly...

She grinned at him... "Sorry..."

"Please break this link, Giles...Before I make Willow smash her head in pieces against the floor..."

Now...she smiled...I've asked politely...And you've gotten all you're gonna get from the others...

"Very well..." Giles nodded...He rose and backing carefully, eyes on the watching Willow, grabbed an urn on the table...And poured the ashes within, out onto the table...

"Thanks, Giles..." she smiled at him...And fell back, collapsing back in her chair...

"Giles...?" Willow stared, sitting up...

"Anne decided to put an end to our little session..." Giles looked at her, a strange look in his eyes...

"Did you get anything?...A name...?"

"Possibly...We'll have to study the tapes, and we'll try hypnosis..."

"But...?" There was more, she realized...

"We have learned something, Willow..." he paused...

"Buffy...And Cicely...Are not fighting Anne..."

What?...Willow stared at him...

"They may be trying to restrain her...But they are not trying to drive her out...Not yet anyway..."

"But...Giles...?...Is it something to do with the transformation?...Are they surrendering?...Letting go...?"

No, I don't believe so...he shook his head...

"They...All three...Are working together..."

"Cowards die a thousand deaths...The valiant taste of death but once..." Warren repeated to himself...Over and over...Amy glancing at him occasionally as she drove...

There was no point in "coming out", so to speak, quietly...However, noting that Julius Caesar gets stabbed shortly after making that remark, it perhaps behooved one to keep the valor within sensible limits...

Which was why, Amy having confirmed that Willow and her unique aura were safely at the Magic Box, he'd chosen to pay his first social call in months on his former and sole paying customer...Anne having kindly contributed the address of the cemetery and the approximate location of William's new crypt during the course of their first business meeting...

And with dawn now well underway...Even if Anne failed to restrain Spike, even perhaps encouraged his efforts to deal with his dear ole botmaker, a quick sprint outdoors should avoid any unpleasant consequences...Or the need for Amy to show her hand...Yet...

"Are you sure about this, Warren?...Why don't we just send a videotape?...You could hold up today's newspaper..." Amy kindly suggested...

He looked at her...No sarcasm in her voice, even a sincerely concerned expression on her face as she quickly turned back to the road...

She cares...He thought, sadly all too briefly, in wonder...

"They wouldn't believe it unless one of them sees and senses me in the flesh...And Spike's the best candidate for reading me as human...Not another bot...Sides, Anne's there...And he can't come out after me in daylight..."

As long as you're sure Willow is on the other side of Sunnydale...I'll be fine...he concluded...With a reasonable show of bravado...

"Anne..." she shook her head... "I wouldn't place a lot of faith in her, Warren...She's got her own agenda and we're utterly dispensable to her...Well...At least I'll be in range in case you get into trouble..."

She pulled over...And got out with him...

"Just don't let him see you...You're our ace in the hole..." Warren sternly noted to her as they entered the cemetery by a unlocked side gate...

Ah...she grinned...I get it now...

"Just want them to think you did it all on your lonesome, eh..." she smiled gently...

He started a slight frown...Which turned to astonishment as she kissed him on the cheek...

"Take care, Warren...Watch out for any late-returning vamps...And don't be afraid to scream loud if you need me...I'm not particularly impressed by the strong, silent type..." she left him, staring, as she moved off towards the cover of a monument midway between the rear crypts and the side gate...

"Ahhhh!..."

Anya turned to run up the stairs of the Summers' home, hearing Dawn's shriek...

Oh, hell...What am I doing?...I've been doing things human much too long...she teleported...

"Dawn...?" she stared at the girl tossing and turning on the bed...Still in deep thrall, she realized...

"William!...Forgive me!..." Dawn cried...

"Buffy!...Buffy!...No!..."

Dawn...Anya stroked her arm...Oh...she trembled...Watching the girl...

I remember...This...I remember...My mother doing this...

When I was Aud...So long ago...She sat gently down on the edge of the bed...

Oh...Mother...Father...How could I have forgotten?...

"Buffy?...No..." Dawn pleaded, tossing again...

"Mother...Please..."

Anya stared at her...Buffy...Anne had told Xander...

"William!...Forgive me!..." Dawn screamed... "Amelia!...I'm...Sorry!..."

"Oh, God...Father!...Father!..." she quieted down as Anya stroked her helplessly...

"Father?...It's alright now...Mother and I will help you..." she murmured...

You're home now...Father...

"It's alright, Mother...I understand...We've brought him home at last..." she slipped back into a quiet sleep...Less of a thrall Anya noted thankfully...

She sat watching Dawn...Gotta go call Giles...she realized...

But...First...

"Momma...Pappa...Forgive me...And thank you...Thank you for sending Xander and my friends to save me..." she prayed silently...

She got up and turned back a moment...

"I'll tell them, Dawn...I'll tell...Your Mother you understand...And your Father...That you're glad he's home at last..." she whispered...

William eyed Anne as she lay on her slab...Tossing a bit now...

No...she moaned...

No...Not yet...Giles...Listen...

They're reaching her...he thought...

"Buffy...?" he called to her...

"Damn you!...Leave us be...!..." she cried suddenly...In a British accent...

"Cicely!..." he called to her...

"Hey..." she opened her eyes at him...

Guess what?...she grinned...

"Willow's trying to reach the soul sisters...Your idea...By any chance?..." she smiled...Then her eyes rolled up...She shook...

"I'm sorry I'm so weak...Giles..." she replied in a faint voice... "But I can't...Not yet..."

"Buffy?..." William came over to her...Taking her hand...

Her face distorted again...A series of moans, cries, with clear words interspersed...

A dark, grim look...

"Enough, guys...You've had your fun...Break this link...Now...Or I will...The hard way...NOW!...Giles!..." she screamed...

"Buffy!..." William shook her...

"Hey...!..." she pulled loose, staring at him...

"Enough already...Willow's broken the link...And a good thing for her, too..." Anne shook her head...

"Cause this party ends when I say so..." she frowned...

"I mean...After all..." she glowered...

"If I gotta do all the dirty work...As usual..."

"What do you mean?..." he eyed her...

Eh...she waved...

"A demon counterpart's lot in life...Like Spike with you...Though he got his own way...For a whole century plus..."

Life's really not fair, you know Will?...she smiled at him, a little sadly...

"Yeah..." she nodded as he stared at her silently... "Nobody knows better than you, my darling..."

Deathwishes...Part XXXVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XXXVI...

Clem nudged Xander as they waited in the low bushes near William's new crypt...Someone coming...He gave a cautious point towards the side fence...Xander peering though the breaking dawn mists...

Jesus Christ...he breathed...

Really?...Clem stared...

Well, actually...Just...Warren Mears...Xander shook his head...

Bout as far from Christ as you might reasonably wanta get...Excluding the supernatural types, of course...

Warren Mears...Alive?...Xander sighed...

Well, not much doubt as to who was responsible now...

Oh...Willow...Thank God...he thought...Closing his eyes...

Providing You do help us get Anne to vamoose, of course...

Thank God...he repeated, murmuring aloud...

"Xander?...Is he a friend of yours?..." Clem hissed, watching his surveillance partner...

"Nah..." Xander shook his head... "But right now, in some ways..."

He's the one person on Earth I'm most happy to see alive...

"You gotta be mistaken, Giles..." Willow shook her head at the thought...Buffy...And Cicely...?

Working with Anne?...

"I admit...They're not trying very hard to reach out...If at all..." Willow frowned...

But...

"Buffy told me she was not ready to fight Anne, Willow...And there can only be one reason for that..."

But, Giles?...Co-operate?...With Anne, her killer demon?...And after what she did to Dawn...?

"Her counterpart, Willow...Part of her...Just as Spike is part of William...Her dark side personified..."

And we have no certainty that it was Anne alone who attacked Dawn...he paused...

"Giles...?" Willow stared...

"Buffy was willing to attack, possibly kill, Anya earlier..." he eyed her...

And keeping Dawn in thrall is a strong check on our efforts...

"Rupert...If what Anne and Will told Xander is true...Dawn is her..."

"And William is the husband she's come back...Several times...To find and save..." Giles gave her a hard look...

"Buffy...Cicely...And their counterpart...Don't intend to fail this time...No matter what it takes..."

Even if they must risk their own child's spirit...

"I can't...I won't believe Buffy would do that, Rupert...Kill her own daughter?..."

Kill, no...Not kill...But risk...Yes...Giles sighed...

"Buffy would take that risk...For William..."

But why?...

"The key, Willow, may be in whatever impressions your mind retained when they and you were linked...We must try and recover those impressions at once..."

But...Giles looked across the room...

"The reason may be very simple...Will wanted to die...Kill the remains of Spike in him...And pushed her away when she tried to help him as Buffy before...That changed only when he thought she needed him..."

"She's letting Anne stay...She and Cicely...Because she's afraid William will...Leave?...If she's doesn't need him to help her fight Anne off...?" Willow looked at him...

"She tried driving him off to what she thought was safety a century ago...And failed..." the Watcher noted...

Now...She's trying it the other way...Keeping him close, ostensibly to save her...And is ready to do anything to keep him...Prove to him she's always loved him...

"There is another group at work here..." Willow pointed out... "The folks, whoever they are, who set her up...And who've been blocking our tries to drive Anne out..."

"The three...Aspects...Of our Buffy are doubtless concerned with them as well...And the arrangement the souls have reached with Anne may in part be regarding them...But I do not think they or Anne are Buffy's main concern..."

"But...We need to learn all that we can...If you agree, my dear..." Willow nodding quietly as he rose and headed into the main part of the shop...

Willow was thoughtful a moment as Giles went to gather the implements for a hypnosis session...

"Giles...?" she looked up at him as he returned...

"Are you suggesting...That if we push Anne too hard, too fast...?"

Buffy will help her...Deal with us?...

"Our Buffy...Cicely...Anne...The Mrs. Walthrop..." Giles hesitated... "Is a woman who was betrayed by those she trusted and by her own notions of service to Humanity...And who loved enough to transcend death to rescue her beloved..."

If she finds she must eliminate a few friends standing in her way to save her husband...That may be a price even her human selves are willing to consider...

Mears or whatever, whoever he was...Xander noted to Clem as they watched him...Human, Clem hissed back...No doubt about that scent...Had reached the entrance to William's new place...And was nervously glancing round...

"Should we...?" Clem eyed his partner...

"Wait..." Xander patted him... "We need to find out what's up here...Why and how Mears is involved...He seems to be in a hurry to talk to Will and Anne, so let him...Will'll let us know what Mears spills asap..."

"But...What about William?...If the evil one in Slayer helps this one?...If they're workin' together...?"

"Will can deal with Warren Mears...And I doubt Anne is a very loyal partner...Outside of her marriage..."

She won't let William be hurt, I'm sure of it now...Xander shook his head...

"In fact..." he sighed... "I'd better be ready to help save Warren from William...And her...Whether they're "partners" or no..."

He's a sad one...That's for sure...Clem nodded...

"Mears?..." Xander stared... "He's a maniac...Pathetic, maybe..."

Ah, Xander...Clem shook his head... "Sorry, but you got it all wrong...It's that short human lifespan cramping your perspective..."

Hmmn...?

"That poor fellow is almost doomed...And doesn't even know it...Refuses to see it..."

"He's a killer, Clem...And a vicious bastard to boot..."

"Yeah...But, Xander...Think...The vamps and demons, the evil ones I mean..."Clem grinned... "You guys kill...Their souls don't suffer...They're free, long safe in Heaven...Forever...Just a moment's pain and...Safe..."

And the demon essences...Where they're not soul-merged like me...And your Miss Anyanka...

"Anya..." Xander corrected hastily, but firmly...

Sure...Anya...Clem nodded kindly...

"Those creatures are just doing as well as they can...Almost all instinct and they don't suffer...Much...Except for the moment when Slayer lets 'em have it..." he grinned...

But a guy like that...A soul cursed by its own nature...Sinking down forever...No one even putting out a hand to help...

"Mears...Has only himself to blame..." Xander began...

I know, I know...Clem waved a hand...But...It's still a sad thing to see...

"It's the saddest thing in this world...Or any other..." he noted solemnly...

"Hey..." Warren waved a nervous hand at a startled William and a somewhat surprised Anne as he entered the main section of the crypt...

How's it hanging, guys?...

He stood, watching both of them, a smirking smile plastered on his face...

Warren...Mears?...Will looked at him...

"No bots wanted today, Warren..." Anne grinned at him...Lifting her head from her slab to view him...

"Mears...?" William rose from his slab...

"Yeah...Guess we three have something in common, eh guys?...All members of the back-from-the-grave society...?" Warren nervously grinned...William moving on him...

You...Bastard...You...William eyed him...Then Anne...

"You...You're the one..."

"Don't come any closer, Spike..." Mears pulled up a device from his pocket... "I just came to talk...And I brought some protection, of course..."

"Don't kill him...Again...Just yet, William..." Anne called...Smiling at Warren...

The chip'd give you a headache, honey...Besides...

"He's my partner and benefactor...And sadly, for the mo...I need his help..."

I wouldn't want to have to fight you over him...she grinned at the now hesitating William...

Deathwishes...Part XXXVII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XXXVII...

Though the startle he'd given ole Spike on entering the crypt was quite pleasant, Mears was a bit miffed to find such a low intensity reaction overall to his reappearance among the living...

But then, William and Anne...Wrong audience to impress with a resurrection under any circumstances...And Anne was already in on his lil' secret, after all...

And, vainglorious as demonic counterparts are, Anne was naturally quick to sense the blow to Warren's vanity...Hey, outwitted the Slayer and the most powerful Wiccan the world has ever seen...Ya know...? After all...She herself was feeling a tad underappreciated...Hey, holding off her double-lobed Buffy-Cicely soul, Willow and Giles, William the Bloody?..On her lonesome...?

Well, perhaps with the aid of a short-term truce as far as the soul sisters went...Still...Better than any of Buffy's previous opponents, she'd say...

So she could appreciate the wound...And set about to happily exploit it...

"Sorry William isn't more impressed by your little stunt, Warren..." she grinned... "But he's seen the resurrection thing done right...Complete with my dirty, bloodied hands after I crawled up out of my coffin...Eh, hon...?" she turned back to William...

A strange, sudden change in her features as she looked back at him...Blinking...Her sarcastic smile suddenly becoming a sad and haggard look..

"When...He...Took care of me...Patched my hands...And told me..." she stared...Eyes starting to fill...William looking intently back at her...Buffy?...

Warren staring as well, puzzled...What the hell's with our Killer Queen?...

"Buffy...?" Will called, sensing a chance...Anne put up a hand...Shaking her head as if to clear it...

Not...Yet...Not yet...she murmured...We can't...We haven't...

"Cicely!..." William tried again...Moving to her...

"No...NOT YET!..." Anne cried...Glaring at him...

"Not yet, you...coward...Gutless...bitches..." she whispered furiously, turning from him, putting her hands to her face... "Leave it to me!...Not now..."

Cicely?...Warren looked at William now...

Oh...Right...Amy's reincarnate...The other soul in Buffy...Our little troublemaker...

"Please..." her voice was harsh, but pleading... "Not yet..."

"Buffy, Buffy...Listen to me, girl..." Will pulled her hands away gently...

She paused, pulled a hand free and rubbed her cheek slightly, and smiled...Yeah...

"That one brought a few back...Got the Buffy in me going...For a mo..."

Just a mo...she eyed Will...Who watched her carefully...

"Sorry honey, lil' debate in here for a mo...As you guessed..." she eyed him...

I won...she grinned...He moved back, watching her, glancing over at Mears...

"Well..." she turned back to Warren...Holding his spot near the entrance...Device resembling a TV remote in hand...Clenched tightly...

"Like I was saying before my soul so rudely tried to interrupt...A shame William can't show a little more shock and awe at your rising from the grave, Mears...But been there, done that..."

And you weren't even really dead...she smiled... "See, Will...Our Warren continues to make use of all..."

"Back, Spike!..." Warren called hastily, noticing William moving to take advantage of his focus on Anne...

He pressed a button on his remote and the vampire collapsed, hands to his head, groaning...

"William!..." Anne cried out...Racing over...

And giving Mears a hideous, terrifying look...All the more terrifying, it being Buffy's sweet, human face minus any physical contributions Anne might have provided...

Warren backed away, nervously...But went for the bravado...

"He's fine...Just a little mild shock, courtesy the chip frequency I got from him last year...And ...You can't hurt me, Anne...Remember what we told you..."

"Warren...Try that again...And I will show you how I defeated an invincible goddess..." she gave him a sweet smile as she helped William back to his feet...

"I find ways, Mears...And I doubt even your Amy would be able to hold me down long..."

Will looked up woozily but intently, at her...Amy?...Yeah, she grinned back...Relaxing as he seemed to be recovering...

"Warren here finally has a new girlfriend..."

Andrew will be crushed, ya know Mears...she smirked...

"But...Maybe I could do him a favor...If you try that thing again, I mean..." she nodded at the remote...

"Anne...We have a deal..." Warren stared at her...

"Deed we do..." she grinned...Helping Will to a seat on the nearest slab... "If you can deliver..."

"But..." she looked at Mears... "Strange, speaking of lil' Amy...Where is our second-string Wiccan?...Outside, waiting for her little man?...Or hangin' round, invisible or something?..."

She gave a slight, intense glare at her "partner"...If you try that "for me to know and you to..." crap, Mearsy...

"She's not here..." Will noted quietly, shaking his head...

"Oh...?" Anne eyed Warren...Who merely stared back...

"Well...You never bothered to include your partner in our talk before...Seemed to me at the time you hadn't intended to..."

"Leave her out of this for now..." Warren waved a hand... "I'm the one you deal with..."

"Hmmn..." Anne smiled at him... "Whatdya think, honey?..." she eyed Will... "Is he backstabbing her, true to form...Or actually trying to..." she paused...

"Why, Warren Mears..." she blinked at him...

"You came in here without her...?...Without using her to come and check things out for you first...?"

William...She smiled over...

"Our boy here's in love, I think...Within his limited abilities, I mean..."

Mears stared at her...

"God knows poor Amy must be...To let you meet me alone...Course, I'm sure you'd still be willing to sell her out...If I made the price right, eh Mearsy?..." Anne grinned...

"Xander?..." Clem eyed him as they stood crouched in the bushes near William's new crypt...

"Could ya move over to the side a little...I'm pickin' up a scent..."

Xander blinked...And moved...Ummn...

"Sorry..."

Nah...Clem waved a paw...Not you...

"There's somebody else...Human...Around...Not the one who went into William's..."

"Can you tell where...?" Xander looked round...

Manfully suppressing the bizarre urge to say 'Go get him, boy...'...

Not sure...Clem sniffed...

Somewhere...Over there...he pointed...To a group of tall mausoleums...

The group where Amy waited, concealed as best she could be...

Nervously watching the entrance to William's crypt as well...But unaware of those now seeking her...

William pulled himself to a sitting position on the slab Anne had helped him to...Fiercely glaring at the waiting Mears...Anne standing, rather protectively, Warren noted, beside him...

So...I was right...Mears gloated to himself...Even Anne...

I got my ace in the hole...Dear ole Spike's chip...Whatever she may threaten to do, she'll deal for his sake...

But can't hurt to strengthen my hand a leetle further...

"Amy's surveying the situation, Anne...And will deal if either of you try anything..."

"You bastard!..." William startled the others, rising...

"You and that bitch of a ratted witch murdered my wife!...Let her into her!..." he eyed Anne...

"Wait, Will!..." Anne cried...A genuine plea in her voice...She grabbing at him and pulling him down...

"Don't Warren!..." she turned to Mears...Who held his finger over the remote button...

"Please...William...You'll just get hurt...Leave this to me...Please..." she anxiously told him...Holding beside her on the slab...

Warren nervously held his place, watching in fascination...Whoa!...Wait a minute?...

"Wife?..." he looked at them...

"Yeah..." Will sighed...Nodding at Anne...Ok...For now...

"Meet the Missus...Mrs. Cicely Addams Walthrop, that is..."

Nah, Will...Anne eyed Warren coolly...

"Mearsy would not want to meet Cicely right now...Believe me..."

"All right, Anya...Thank you...We'll let you know if we learn anything more here..." Giles hung up his phone...Willow looking at him as she sat at the research table, ready for her hypnotherapy session...

"Dawn ok, still?..."

"Yes..." Giles nodded... "Anya believes she's sleeping more normally now...But..."

It seems some doors have opened in her mind as well...he paused...

Giles...? Willow stared...

"She referred to Buffy and William...In her sleep...As her parents, or so Anya says...Said she understood why her "Mother" had done...What she did..."

"Then it's true?...She is their daughter's spirit...?"

"Perhaps...Unless Anne has something elaborate in mind...But it would seem..."

"She did it..." Willow smiled...

"Cicely...She arranged it, Giles...I'd bet money on it...She reincarnated and when the monks made Dawn from Buffy, she somehow, someway...Got the PTBs to let their little girl be born at last..."

And now...her face darkened...Some lil' bastard of an enemy...At least some of them human, no less...Are trying to tear it all up...Just when Cicely's nearly won...

"God, Rupert...Stay be me...Cause I swear...If I catch these guys alone..."

"You'll restrain them and if they surrender, turn them over to the Council...Or the police if there's a charge that can be pressed"...Giles firmly eyed her...

And you'll do that...Because you have family and friends who love and need you...A life worth keeping intact...Unlike our pathetic opponents...Whoever they are...Whose deathwishes must surely be quite strong...

He stared at her for a long moment...Her own harsh look softening into a wry smile...

"Yeah..." Willow sheepishly nodded... "That's what I'll do..."

Thanks, Rupert...she gave him a warm smile...But...Hey?...

"... "If they surrender"...What if they don't "surrender"...?"

"Then you and I...And hopefully Xander, William, and Anya...Will have the extreme pleasure of ripping them to pieces..." Giles smiled thinly...

"Well...Warren...? What did you drop by for, anyway?..." Anne looked at him from the slab where she held William gently...

Seems a bit of a violation of our lil' agreement, you're showing yourself...And it makes for a big drop in your value to me, now that William knows about you and Amy, I gotta tell you...

"Just wanted to let you know Amy was moving things along regards ole Willow..." Mears took in the touching scene...Heroic human-souled vamp and loving half-transformed demon-controlled wife tending and protecting him...

What a riot...Not quite what Amy'd hoped for when she'd first suggested this lil' scheme, he suspected...

But then, who'd believe even Buffy's demon could be madly in love with this Billy Idol knock-off?

What the hell's Blondie here got, anyway?...

Still, not necessarily the worst possible thing to have a hold like this on Anne...

"You came here...Risked being exposed...Just to tell me Amy's "moving things along"...?" Anne regarded Warren...

"I might have some more to say...Alone..." Warren eyed her...

"You picked the wrong time of day, Mearsy...Will can't scoot out for a stroll just right now with the sun up...And in case you didn't know, vampire hearing is supersensitive...Sending him to the ground level probably wouldn't help..."

No...Will spoke up...It would not...

"I would imagine Mearsy has something more permanent in mind, love..." he eyed Mears...

"Not if he wants to go on living...And I would include shocking William unconscious in that, Warren..." Anne glared at him...

"Moi?..." Warren shook his head... "The things people get to believing about evil leaders like me..."

You'd think we were capable of anything...

"No, lady...I just want us to take a little stroll outside...You're only a half-vamp, and I spy a perfectly good umbrella over there...And when we're out of Mr. Blonde's super earshot...I'll fill you in completely..."

Naturally, after we remove or disable any cell phones or other communication devices...

"I'd never want to spoil a story of true love..." he concluded...Smirking...

"Unless of course...You've decided ole Spikey is disposable...?"

Anne cocked her head at him...Frowning...Still...

"All right..." she nodded... "We'll take a stroll..."

She got up...Turning to William...

"I already ripped out the one phone and I have the only cell phone here now...Just try to rest a little, Will...No point in getting burned trying to follow us, ok?..." A smile, but a sincere plea in her voice...

"Leave it to the Missus, Walthrop..." she patted his hand..."It will come out for the best...For us..."

He stared at her...

"Not much I can do...For now..." he looked over at Warren who waited rather patiently for the Warren Mears he'd known...

"I will kill you, Mears...When I get the chance..." he told him coldly... "Rat girl as well..."

"Lets go..." Anne came over to Warren, picking up the umbrella...

"Anne...?" Will called suddenly...

"I'm trusting you on this..."

She grinned to Warren...

"Some people...Love just turns their heads..."

"I'm still a demon, William..." she called back... "And you should know...Just as I told you...Demons try to win it all...They just can't help it..."

But she stared at him...Intently...For just a second...Then turned and followed Mears out...

Promising...? he thought...Hoped...

"Oh God!...What have I done!..." Willow cried out in a British-accented voice...As Giles watched carefully, tape recorder rolling...

"BASTARDS!...MURDERERS!...They told me he would be safe!..." she screamed, sobbing at the end...

"WILLIAM!..."

"Cicely..." Giles called out to her, gently...

"We need your help to save William..."

"They killed him...It killed him..." Willow sobbed...

I killed him...she stared out at nothing...Tears running...

"No, not killed...Not just killed..." she shook her head...

"William...Forgive me...Forgive me..."

"Mrs. Walthrop...We need your help..." Giles tried again...

"You...? You are one of them..." Willow stared at him...

"Watcher!...Murderer..." she rose slightly...

"Buffy knows me, Cicely..." Giles told her firmly... "So you know me..."

"Giles..." she stared at him...And sat again...

"Father..." she breathed... "Father..."

Help me, Papa...I...

"Cicely...Buffy...We are trying to help you...But you must tell us...The truth..." Giles paused...

"Why are you letting Anne stay?...Why are you all working together?..."

"I couldn't save him, Papa...He rose too soon...I was ill...He rose..." Willow murmured...

"I'm having a baby, Father...You can't annul that..." she continued...

"He hates me...He thinks I...Betrayed him..." she stared at Giles...

I couldn't save her either...I failed him again...

"Will doesn't hate you, Cicely...Buffy...He loves you...He needs you..." Giles replied firmly...

"He stayed...Here...Behind...Waiting for me...Oh, my poor darling!...He stayed here, watching it all...He couldn't...Control it..."

"Father, he couldn't...It wasn't his fault..."

"No...No, Cicely...It was not his fault...No one can control their demon once released...And that is why...You and Buffy must help us drive Anne out..." Giles took Willow's hand...

"I nearly killed him...Giles..." Willow's voice changed...

"I didn't see him...Didn't even try to help him..."

"Buffy...?" Giles looked at her...

"He told me about that night...He fought his way out from Spike...And still I didn't see...I didn't do anything..."

"I loved him...But I didn't lift a finger for him..."

"Buffy...There was no way you could have..." he began...

"The Slayer!..." she turned harsh...

"The Slayer can't take a chance...The Slayer...Can't...Love...Unselfishly..."

"Buffy..." Giles tried again...

"I want the Slayer to die...In me..." she said simply... "I want to be...Like my Will..."

A fool for love...

"Like...Anne..." she smiled at Giles...

"Anne is a fool for love...Free..."

Help us, Father...she stared at him...And sighed...

"I'm so sorry, Amelia..." she passed out...

Deathwishes...Part XXXVIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XXXVIII...

The Magic Box...

So...Willow eyed Giles as they sat at the main research table...She having just heard the replay of her conversation while under hypnosis...

"Buffy dropped us quite an info packet while we were linked...".

"Yes...Quite deliberately too, I'm sure..." Giles nodded...

She wanted us to understand the situation...And to be warned...

"Giles...What could she...Buffy...Hope to accomplish this way?...Letting Anne have a free rein...?"

"A free rein..." he repeated... "She said that Anne was free...And that she wanted the Slayer in her to die..."

"She also called you her father..." Willow grinned a little... "Don't think you can take all of what I said too literally..."

"Her father...Cicely's father..." Giles interrupted her quietly... "Was Sir Richard Addams..."

My ancestor...On my mother's side I believe...

"Giles...?"

"When we were at the archives in England, I did a little checking...I knew my family had Addams' relations in past generations but I hadn't realized the family links were quite that strong..."

You're related to Cicely Addams?...Willow stared...

"The connection is there..." he nodded...

There's even a little resemblance...Though I've never had any experience to suggest Sir Richard has resurfaced in me...It's quite possible that Cicely recognizes that family connection...

"... "I want the Slayer in me to die..."..." Willow repeated...

"Does she want to die, Giles...? Is she trying...?..."

No...he replied firmly... Buffy does not want to die...That is not the issue here...

Willow looked at the far wall...Uncertain...

"Willow...I believe you were the one who told me she requested we help her and Will out with plane tickets for Africa if our efforts failed..." he smiled at her... "She has no intention of dying...Or of failing...This time..."

But...It makes sense...Buffy has always feared, resented...Hated...the Slayer in her...However proud of her prowess and conscious of her duty she has been as well...And clearly, Cicely hoped to escape the Slayer's usual lonely existence and early death by marrying William and fleeing with him...

"And now the Slayer has kept her from seeing William in Spike until it was almost too late...In fact it was too late, she had failed...Except, thanks to you..." he smiled... "She was given another chance..."

"Me...And William..." Willow noted... "And herself, I'm sure..."

Yes...he sighed...

"Oh, Willow...I've misjudged this situation so badly...I should have realized when Buffy died...And Spike showed us the kind of human feeling he was capable of...I could have found William's soul for her, helped them..."

"I'm the super-witch, Rupert...Even I didn't catch on to William's presence..." she eyed him kindly... "And if we'd tried too soon...Before he was strong enough...Spike might have killed us...Or her..."

Perhaps...he nodded...

"Giles...If she doesn't want to die..."

"After what's happened...And perhaps even before...She's come to believe that the Slayer in her cannot help William...Or at least, that he will not accept the Slayer's help...So she's turned to that part of her that doesn't care about duty or family or anything else but William..."

Anne...Willow looked at him...

"Anne...Who would sacrifice anyone...Even her own daughter...Even her own existence...To save him and bring him home..."

The fool for love who moved Cicely Addams to abandon Duty a century ago...And Buffy to risk loving the vampire minstrel who'd sung his love song for her even by her grave...And, more than likely, kept Buffy from destroying Spike all these years...

"And who would deal with those newly surfaced enemies who again want to separate and destroy them...Whether they are human or not..."

Even if some of them are friends and family...Giles smiled wanly at Willow...

Nice place...Anne noted to Mears as they walked up the central row of tombstones under the shade of various large trees in William's latest resting place...Keeping her umbrella carefully over her head...

"I'd say we're far enough from mine own true..." she noted, halting by a large memorial to a fallen WWI hero...

"What's up, Mearsy?..." she eyed him...

And, again...Where's your partner?...I don't think I like the implications of her not being around...It suggests a lack of trust on your part...she gave him a sweet smile...

"I prefer not to have Amy involved in negotiations just right now...But she's around, in case you decide to pull something, Anne..."

"Just far enough away not to hear you sell her out?..." Anne grinned... "Yet close enough to save your miserable ass if I've decided to dispense with your services?..."

"You always were a clever little shumuck, Warren...No wonder you came off better than most of my...Our...opponents..."

He glared, she shrugged...Hey, little man...Demon Slayer counterpart here...Treating you with considerable self-restraint, I'd say...

"You want polite, go see my well-mannered Wiccan friend...I know she'd sure like to see you..." she grinned...

Unless you'd like to speak with Buffy...Or Cicely...

"They have a few issues to work out with your internal organs, too..."

"You said we still have a deal...You want our help?...Or no?..." Warren replied tersely...

"I'm here...Waitin' on ya..." she smiled..."Just thought somebody oughta speak up for poor ole Amy...Show a little interest in the poor kid's existence...And future..."

"Amy is my business...Lets focus on the matter at hand...Willow..."

Anne gave a politely attentive look...I'm all attention...she told him...

"First...Did things work out on your little visit home?..."

Well enough...she nodded...

"I put Dawn in thrall...She'll do as I say...And William...And probably the others as well...knows it..."

Excellent, he nodded in turn...Then...Next step...

"I want you to see that Spike gets word to Willow that I'm out and about..." he eyed her...

She blinked...You what?...

"Oh..." she smiled... "Warren?...A good ole-fashioned ambush?...Is that it?...Not bad, but I dunno...Willow and Giles are the cautious types..."

By the way, Mears...she paused...A stern look...

"My husband's name is William S. Walthrop and he prefers to be called by his name...Spike is his counterpart...Please try to keep that straight..."

It might be technically accurate to call you "Dickless Homicidal Sniveling Schmuck-boy" in front of Amy...she noted...But, you know...Common courtesy and all...

"Anyway..." she waved a hand... Enough with the social pleasantries... "I arrange for Will to slip out or get his hands on a phone...He gets Willow to come a chargin' to see her favorite nerd genius...And...?"

"And...We're ready for her...And we remove the last obstacle to your keeping that Slayer bod...And completing your transformation..."

Actually...Anne smiled...I'm kinda getting to like this halfway state...Nice to be able to zip out in daylight for a bit...

"Whatever..." Warren shook his head... "That's up to you...But we get Willow off all our backs...Your 'sisters' off to Heavenly bliss..."

And Sunnydale at our feet...

"And I'm supposed to believe you and Amy are gonna pull this off?...Take Willow on...And not end up flambee?..."

"We managed right enough regards Buffy and you..."

She smiled at him, breaking off a tree leaf and twisting it in her hand...

"That you did...Well...How are you...Or Amy...Gonna do it?..."

"Willow hears about my miraculous resurrection...She comes in here "a chargin'"...Like you said..." Mears nodded... "Amy throws up enough smoke and mirrors to keep her tied down here a while..."

Meanwhile...We...You and I...Go round her flank and seize her HQ...

"What you say?..." Anne stared...

"That magic shop...The Box...We go in...With our number one hostage, your sis...And we set up housekeeping..."

According to Amy...From what she overheard in her rat days and since...There's enough high-powered magics in there to counterbalance Willow's natural ability...

"At least when she's not running on supercharge..." he smiled... "Then, while she's still off-balance, running round after Amy's little show...We get word to her where we really are and she plows right on in..."

Into you...And us...

"And if she goes for the "supercharge..."? Even I can't handle her at full power, Mearsy..."Anne frowned...

"Sweet Willow?...Coming to save Buffy and Dawn from the fiendish, but incompetent and easily defleshed nerdy Warren Mears?...Please..."

Willow always underestimated me...He smiled coldly...All of you did...She will again...And this time...It will cost her...

"Even more than the love of her life..." Anne finished, smiling coldly back...

"Oh, Warren..." she grinned, shaking her head... "You know, we...Buffy, Cicely, me...Always did believe humans made the best villains..."

Deathwishes...Part XXXIX...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...Very early S7...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XXXIX...

Far down a row of tombstones from William's crypt in the early dawn, Anne and Warren continued their discussion under the shade of some large trees...Anne carefully keeping her umbrella overhead...

Not that she was in danger of flaming out in her half-transformed state...Just, don't tan well these days...she noted to Mears...

While close to Will's resting place...Where he recovered from the shocking Warren had given him via his knowledge of the chip's frequency...Clem and Xander lay concealed behind bushes...

Fortunately, the same spell Amy...Herself concealed in a mausoleum off away up another row, watching Anne and her partner...Had used to try and mask her presence from Anne was giving them some protection from Anne's heightened senses as well...

In addition, the discussion by the two leading members of the new "Trio" had become rather intense and distracting...

Anne having suggested they consider...The future...

Should their little scheme succeed in destroying Willow and leaving the rest helpless...

"I gotta be frank, Mearsy...I don't like Amy...She's always lacked gratitude..."

I mean...she pouted...I saved her from her mom...Well, we...the soul sisters and me...did, anyway...

"And here she is...Helping to murder me...From Buffy's pov, at least..."

"Amy is crucial here...Are you trying to pull somethin', Anne?" Warren glared...

"Always, partner..." she grinned...

Better get used to it...If you wanta play with me...

"But admit it, Mears...You were speaking for yourself the other night...Not for your partnership...And it's gotta grate on ya, being so dependent on a woman..." she smiled sweetly...

"Like I'm crazy enough to cut off my right arm?..." Mears sneered...

"I'm talking...After the battle, kiddo...I know well as you we need her for the Big Red One..."

But...Later...I got the impression you might prefer a trade-up...

"And, nasty a murderous bitch as Amy is..." Anne smiled... "She strikes me as not quite the type who'd enjoy letting me have a free hand in town...Or you..."

You like being tied to Mummy's apron strings, Mears...? she eyed him...Well...

I did think the other night you had potential...Matewise...she looked him over...When you seemed ready to dump her...But...she sighed...

"Now you wanna go and change that...?...Well, Mearsy...There's not a lotta room in the boat, if you know what I mean...Someone's got to be dropped overboard..."

"Why not...William...?" he glared at her...

Non-negotiable...she smiled...

I deal with my husband, thanks...

"You expect me to give Amy up...My witch...And take my chances with you...?"

"You've got a fair amount of magics skills...Can't be too shy of ole Amy's..." Anne noted...

"C'mon...Warren...You were never one to be tied down...You scared of her or what...?"

"You think I'm nuts enough to toss the strongest card in my deck...?" he eyed her narrowly...

What are you up to, Anne?...Trying to split Amy and me up?...Makin' her the same deal...

She grinned..."Not quite the same deal, Mearsy...Afraid I'm not "gay, now"...Though in a pinch I could be flexible..."

But...Yeah, I'll be makin' this offer to dear old rat-girl if you continue your obstinate refusal...

"Maybe she'll show a few brains and take me up on it...God knows in some ways I'd prefer a nice, suicidally-depressed kid like her for a partner as opposed to a preening little geek like you..."

Especially when she's the one with the real power...Anne gave another sweet smile...

"But don't worry...I imagine she'll want to keep you for a pet...Maybe in a human-sized cage...And, in the interests of a partnership, I'd probably go along...If she lets me play with you, too..."

Unless, of course...She chooses to go for the practical herself...And drop the most "dead-weight" member of the team...

Still...

"I do prefer dealing with guys...It's gotta be the slut in me..." she grinned...But suddenly turned her head back towards William's...Hey?...

"What?..." Mears eyed her...She put up a hand...

"We got visitors...Unless it's your girl..." she looked down the row of tombstones...

"Lets go see..." she got up...Holding her pace down to let Mears keep up...

He followed nervously...Can't be Amy, she was headed the other way...he reflected...

"Can you make out what they're saying...?" Xander hissed to Clem...Who shook his head...

"Just a few snatches...But they're planning somethin'..." the demon whispered back...

"If we could just get closer..."

"I wouldn't try that..." Amy appeared in front of them...

Hi, Xander...she smiled...

"You guys on a stake-out or something...?" she asked innocently...

Cause there's a vicious demon down that way...Not to mention, William the Bloody in there...she pointed at the crypt...

"Thanks..." Xander stared at her... "We know..."

What are you doin' here, Amy...? Are you in on this...?

"Xander?...I'm trying to help you out here...Interrupting my practice and all...God, you people...Can't even be nice to you..." she sulked a bit...

"I'm asking again, Amy...Are you in on this with Mears?..." he looked at her firmly...

A witch, one who could block Willow's spell...he realized...And shook his head...

"Amy...God...How could you do this?...You helped him murder Buffy?...The girl who saved your life..."

The girl who killed my mom?...Who threw me out when I needed help?...Amy glared...

"Don't try it, pal..." she eyed Clem who'd begun to advance...The one who hurt Miss Dawny...And Slayer...

"Amy..." Xander eyed her coldly... "From now on...You're not human as far I'm concerned...And if you don't help us restore Buffy...Maybe I can't do it...But Willow will kill you..."

Probably...Amy smiled, nodding...

"But she feel a little of what I've felt before she does..."

Amy...Xander sighed...

"You were a friend once...We cared about you...I liked you...You were a good person..."

"You were the only one, Xander..." Amy stared at him...He blinked...

"The only one who spoke to me...In the cage, I mean...Like I was a person...Not a toy..."

Buffy didn't even speak to me...Willow...And her bitch...Treated me like a pet...

"I knew you were still there, Amy...If the others didn't take the time, ya gotta remember...Things weren't easy then..."

"I'd regret hurting you, Xander..." she sighed... "But...I'm not gonna stop...It's too late now..."

"Hey, guys...Xander...Clem...Hi..." Anne called...As she and Warren came up from their row...Warren panting a bit, in spite of Anne's restrained pace...

What's up...? she smiled...A stakeout?...

In the crypt, William searched carefully...Maybe she'd left something...Intentionally or inadvertently...

Nothing...Guess she'd meant what she said about communication devices...

Hmmn...He eyed the ripped out phone...If only our boy Harris were handy...

Still, no reason not to give it a go...And I have had to try a little wiring in my previous homes...

Not like there's a lot of danger of fatal electrical shock here...He began hunting for tools...Trying to twist the remnants of the broken wires straight...

She promised me...It'd be all right...She meant it, I know...

But how I can trust her?...What her pov would mean by "all turning out right" is not exactly...

Well...Patience and perseverance, Walthrop...Something of a family motto now, considering the past century and all...

Anne...Don't let me down, please...

"So...I'm afraid Dawn and Buffy will both be staying home today..." Anya spoke into the phone...Eyeing the still-sleeping Dawn...A heavy sleep, but not quite the deep thrall she'd been in last night...

And no signs of teeth-sharpening...Very likely Anne hadn't started a transformation...Maybe, in her current halfway state...She couldn't...

"Thanks..." she told the principal at the other end brightly... "I'll tell them...Hmmn?...Oh..."

Anya Jenkins...Buffy's...Ummn...

Cousin...

"Just thought I'd better come over last night...They both sounded so terrible on the phone..." she explained... "So I'll be watching them today..."

"But I'm sure Buffy will be back on the job in a day or two..." she added hastily...

William's crypt...

Anne smilingly led Xander and Clem into Will's crypt as Warren and Amy followed, watching carefully...

"Will?...We got guests!..." Anne called...

He came up from the lower level...Staring at the new arrivals...

"Bloody nice work, Harris..." he frowned at Xander...

"Clem...Thanks for trying..." he eyed the demon, who nodded...A little sheepishly...

What were they doin' here?...Warren hissed to his partner...

"Trying to find us, I imagine..." Amy whispered back...

"So...Whatda we do with 'em now...?" he eyed her, still hissing...

"Warren?...William and I can hear every feeble word you're sputtering...So you may as well speak up..." Anne looked back at him...

And, for the moment...Nothing's gonna happen to my friends here...she beamed at Xander and Clem...

Unless they get needlessly and uselessly heroic...she eyed them...

"They know about Amy..." Warren began...

"So does William...Now..." Anne glared at him... "And if you're thinking any little harmful thoughts in that wee little scheming brain...Forget em..."

For now...she repeated...Smiling at the new arrivals...

"We can use a few extra hostages in any case...Particularly when we try out your little plan..." she noted to Mears...

"Amelia..." she began...William and Xander eyeing her...Clem looking puzzled...

"Dawn, I mean...May not be enough..."

In any case, a few more disposable hostages in reserve can't hurt...

Deathwishes...Part XL...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XL...

To Mears' slight surprise it was Anne who suggested the next move which he'd been contemplating...Even knowing who he was dealing with, he hadn't expected she'd be willing to go this far...

All the demons he'd ever encountered cared rather well for their offspring...

"You and Amy should go and pick up Dawn at the house, Warren..." Anne stared at him, ignoring William's sharp look...Followed by equally sharp ones from Clem and Xander...

"It's time to collect all our chips and have them in hand...She'll come with you, I'll see to that..."

"Willow may be there..." Amy looked at their rather unreliable partner...

"Willow's with Giles trying to find a weapon against me..." Anne shook her head... "At best they've got Anya with her, maybe no one..."

"Anya...?" Amy frowned... "Your vengeance demon...?"

She glared over to Mears... "This is a trap, Warren...I can't fight a vengeance demon and she knows it..."

Anne tensed... "Hey!..." she growled, her face showing the fangs and slight marks allowed by her half-transformed state... "Not very partnerly, lady...I don't like that lack of trust you're suggesting..."

They eyed each other...Amy carefully considering defensive spells...

"Ladies..." Warren tried the beaming "all for the team" approach... "We have a common enemy to deal with..."

Yeah...Anne calmed, reverting back... "So we do...But as for Anya/Anyanka...You're wrong...She's almost helpless without someone to activate her powers by wish...Though she's quite hard to kill...And her top priority is sure to be defending Dawny from all serious harm..."

You can handle her...

"Thanks for believing in us..." Amy gave a coldly sour look...But...

"Mearsy...?" Anne beamed at him... "Who's running this show...You or rat-lady?...You know about vengeance demons right...?...Wish-activated or no?..."

So...They say...Mears gave her a noncommital look...

"If someone is watching my sis...Say Anya...The three of you, Dawn included, oughta be able to deal...One...or two new hostages..."

And Amy can deal with any little protections the fellas may have put up around her...

"If this little scheme of yours is gonna work, we need Dawn..." Anne insisted...Turning to return William's cold glare...Raising her head at him...

"Sorry, honey...With luck, she'll come through just dandy..." she noted quietly...Anne...he hissed...

"I am what I am, William..." she replied... "If Amelia...Dawn...gets hurt...Clem can kill me later..." she grinned, smiling at the large demon's harsh glare...Equally matched by Xander's...

"Lady's got a point..." Warren noted...Eyeing Amy...

We need little Miss Summers...If only as a little insurance policy...

"She'll be ready and waiting for you when you get there..." Anne nodded...Eyeing them both...

"Well...?" Amy stared at Warren as they emerged from the crypt...Anne having wished them a good outcome...

Xander coldly threatening...If anything happened to Dawn...Maybe not him...But Willow...Or Buffy, later...he'd eyed Anne...A threat Clem had backed with equal coldness...

William watching them without a word...Simply an icy look that Spike would have envied...

"We go to the Summers...Collect lil' Dawny and alert our partner..." he replied...

"And if it's a set-up?"

"Anne needs us...For now..." Warren shook his head...

"I don't think this..." she began...He cutting her off...

"We do this my way!...I put my precious neck on the line, remember that!..."

"Your way...?" she paused... "Isn't this Annie's way?...Don't be a fool, Warren..." she stared at his glaring face...And sighed...

"I'm trying to help you, Mearsy..." she smiled at him wanly... "Don't be in such a rush to throw the only person on your side away..."

Lets go...she shrugged...

Inside the crypt, Anne was pensive...Looking at the others...Clem and Xander tied and chained to the large ring on a side wall plaque...

William sitting on the far right...Chained as well...At Warren's insistence...

"Anne..." Xander called to her...

"Yeah...?" she looked at him coldly...

"You know how this will end..." he paused... "You can either make it easy for yourself...Or hard..."

She came over and smiled at him a bit...Showing what she could of her demon...Fangs anyway...Hey, cutie...

"We used to fantasize about you, big bro...You know that...?" she grinned and knelt close to him...Clem watching her coldly as he sat next to Xander...

"Not much, but every once in a while..." she chuckled... "Why just last week..."

"Flattered..." Xander eyed her coolly... "You'll have to do better than that, lady..."

"Hey, just being nice here...big bro...You know, Alexander..." she paused...And put a hand out to stroke his chest...

"William's been turning me down...And I sure could use some...Comfort...You interested?..." he tried to pull back...

"No?...Hey!..." he jerked back, glaring as she reached for his face... "Not very nice, Xander...When I'm ready to tell you some of Buffy's darkest secrets...?"

You'd do well not to get me pissed, sweetie...she glared...And waved at Clem...

"I want you...Alive...For the moment...But your pal doesn't have any value as a chip...So if you don't want me to snap his floppy-eared neck...?...Be polite..."

"I don't hate you, Buffy..." Xander suddenly stared at her... "I don't want you to ever think that..."

"Sure seemed like it earlier when you tried to kill us, Xander..." she grinned back... "But thanks...Buf's glad to hear it..."

You should hate her, though...Sometimes...Anne eyed him carefully...

"There are times she deserves to be hated...Like everyone else..."

"No one deserves to be hated, Anne...Not even you...Only pitied..." he looked at her...

"The Man of Love..." she grinned at him...But there was something...Grateful...In her eyes...

"No hate...Even for Warren?..." she stared at him...

"I said no one deserves it...I didn't say I had the strength not to..." he stared back... "But yeah, he's to be pitied...Like you..."

"What a fool you are Xander Harris..." she grinned, shaking her head... "A fool for love with a capital F..."

She got up... "Anya's lucky..." her last brief comment as she rose and went to William...


	3. Chapter 3

Deathwishes...Part XLI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLI...

In the Magic Box, Willow and Giles waited for word from Xander and Clem, staked out outside William's latest crypt...While they also continued to review various spell material, including Wesley's Wolfram-Hart data...

Willow pondering the results of her little hypnosis session following her mental link to Anne/Buffy/Cicely...

Buffy and her past self, Cicely...Allowing their demon to run the show without a serious attempt at interference...A kind of truce apparently, deliberately arranged amongst them...

A dangerous bargain...And I oughta know...she ruefully noted to Giles...

"Yes..." he nodded... "And as our previous effort failed there's no way to be sure Anne can be restrained and safely driven back once the humans behind this little scheme are dealt with...But, for the moment, we'll have to assume that Buffy/Cicely will help us to contain her once she feels the situation allows for it..."

"Buffy doesn't care...Right now..." Willow sighed... "Like me after Tara...And in Buf's case, there still is a chance to help William..."

"I believe...I hope...That she still feels she can fight Anne back when the time comes...But you're right Willow, she's decided not to let anything stand in her way in proving her love to Will..." he looked wearily at her...

"Anne is, after all, her wilder, instinctual nature as much as her darkness...The real danger is that, like you...She may overestimate her ability to control that nature..."

"I didn't care...Controlling my darker side was the last thing on my mind, Rupert..." Willow shook her head sadly...

But...My dear Willow...he eyed her firmly...It was on your mind...Somewhere...Or Xander would never have reached you...

"Thank you..." she smiled wanly... "I'd like to believe that..."

Well...At least now I can feel a little better...she grinned...When even the Slayer wants to be a fool for love...

In William's new crypt, Anne sat by the chained William, Xander and Clem likewise secured on their side, watching...

"Penny for your thoughts...?" she smiled at him a moment...

"You're handing our child over to Warren Mears..." he replied coldly... "That's what I'm thinking...Buffy..."

Anne stared at him as he stared hard back...Nodding...

"Thank you, Will...That really is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me...But, in all fairness, she couldn't stop me..." Anne paused...

If she wanted to?...he finished...

"Don't underestimate the maternal instincts of a demon counterpart, sweetie..." she looked away a moment... "But, I would say she feels...We've saved Dawny/Amelia often enough...Maybe now it's time to help Amelia's father...After all the years of waiting, failing..." she sighed... "Now it's time at last..."

What can I say, honey?...she smiled...After a century long marriage ya either love em that much or ya can't stand them...

"Don't do this, Buffy...Cicely, find another way to deal with Mears...I'll help you..." he shook his wrist chains...

"Stop it...You'll hurt yourself..." she patted him...

"And don't overestimate Buffy's control here...Or my altruism, William...I still need Dawn to keep Willow off my back...I'm not prepared to just do my bit for the team and go quietly...I've told you that... "

Thank you...he eyed her...

"You're a kind sis, Anne..."

"Just being honest, love...The one...good...thing a demonic counterpart always is...Right, Spike?..." she grinned...And got up...

"Gotta concentrate now for a minute...'Cuse me, guys, goin' below...Xander?" she turned to him... "Don't try anything...I'd be sorry to lose you and Buf would suffer, but I won't hesitate to snap your neck if I have to..."

Just wanna be straight with ya, big brother...Like you were with me...she eyed him...

He nodded...

"And don't fret about my partners...I don't give a damn about Warren Mears...I'll deal with him and his bitch-witch when the time comes..."

It's just me you should worry about...she smiled...And headed to the ladder leading to the lower crypt, a large space widened out of the service tunnel connecting several mausoleums, once used for storage...

Clem staring coldly after her...

The human members of the new Trio made their entrance at the Summers' home in the good ole fashioned way...Amy knocking at the front door while Warren waited in her car, face covered by a newspaper...

"Amy?..." Anya stared at her on the steps...

"Hi..." Amy beamed an innocent...Just stoppin' by...Smile...

"Willow?...Or Buffy around?...I just wanted to speak with them...Ok?"

"They're not..." Anya replying coolly, paused and looked back at a sound from upstairs...

Dawn emerging from her room, fully dressed, with a dull, blank look...She came to the stairs and started down...

"Dawn?...Go back to..."

"Let her in, Anya..." Dawn told her quietly, pausing... "Anne wants her to come in..."

Anya whirled back and moved to close the door...Amy waved her hand and the door flung open...

"Sorry, Anya..." Amy looked at her now raging, demonic face...So that's Anyanka...

"Get out of here!...Or I will make you go!..." Anya snarled...Grabbing the door as Amy tried to step in, struggling to force it closed against Amy's spell...One powerful vengeance demon, Amy noted to herself...It should take five strong men to move that door now...

"Anya...Let her in...Or I will hurt myself..." Dawn called from halfway up the stairs...Holding up the stake Anne had had her conceal on herself...

"Anne wants her to come in...And me to go with her..." she dreamily told her...

Anya looked back, still struggling to close the door...

"Anya...She will hurt herself if you don't let me in..." Amy told her, a slight plea in her voice...

"She's in Anne's thrall, you know that..."

Yeah...Anya gave an icy look...In full Anyanka... "I know that...And you know...You and whoever is..."

Hey!...Warren called from the open car door, too impatient to maintain his position...Anya stared at him as he walked up to the front door... "What's holding things up...?" he asked as he reached them...

Warren...Mears?...

"In the unflayed flesh, babe..." he smirked... "So...You're Harris' lil' La Vengeance...Nice to meet you...But lets take this inside, ok?..." He shoved his way past her, Amy following...

Anya moved back to where Dawn now stood at the foot of the stairs waiting listlessly...Stake still firmly clutched in her hand...

"We don't want to hurt Dawn, Anya..." Amy hesitated... "Or you..."

"But you did...You and this...Murdered her sister... and you will hurt her again...And Anne did and will..." Anya glared...

"Hey, lady...We don't have time or reason for explanations...If you don't want kiddie girl hurt, play along without any trouble...and nobody gets hurt..." Warren gave Summers' pet vengeance demon a once-over...Quite a girl that Harris has landed, he sneered to himself...Bout what I'd expect that loser would wind up with...

Whoa...Hmmn...As she reverted to Anya...Not so bad at that...

"Now why wouldn't I want to take the word of a three-time murderer...?" she gave him a cold smile...

"But then hey, two times were "accidents", right?...We should compare notes, Mears...I've had thousands of "accidents"in my time..."

He stared back...

"And I intend to have at least two more before I turn in my demon work card..." she grinned... "Soon as one of my friends makes a wish..."

Warren glared but motioned to Amy...Who came beside him...

"Amy?..." he turned to her... "I don't think we want the lady to hear any requests contrary to our best interests..."

"I don't know if I can handle her, Warren..." Amy looked at the glaring Anya, now holding wan Dawn's hand... "And I'd just as soon..."

"Are you going soft on me?..." he whirled to her... "All I'm askin' for is what we talked about...A little naptime for our demon lady til we get her and little Summers safely under lock and key to keep us intact..."

"I don't know...The power required to keep a vengeance demon under...It could hurt her, Warren..."

He pulled her a few steps back with him...Whispering harshly...

Do I gotta remind you who helped me kill Buffy Summers?...he hissed to her furiously...Don't start playing Lil' Ms. Moral Conscience with me now...

Amy stared again at Anya who watched them carefully, still holding Dawn's hand...

"Anya never hurt me...Or you...And I don't want to start playing this game according to Anne's rules...She's got her own agenda, Warren..."

"I'm not a fool...I know that..." he nodded... "But we need lil' Dawny...We'll only have one chance with Willow and we can't start holding back now...It's too late for that..."

He relented a bit...Seeing the pleading look in her face... "Am, I'm not asking you to kill somebody...Now, anyway..."

Do it for us...he stared at her...Gripping her arm...

"It's our only chance...If there's anything left in you that cares about a future...With me..."

You can do it...Without permanent damage...And we'll take all the precautions against partner-girl we can...he nodded...

Deathwishes...Part XLII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLII...

In the ground floor chamber of his new crypt, William eyed his fellow prisoners, Xander and Clem, chained to rings embedded in bronze memorial plaques across the room from him...

"Harris, Clem..." he hissed... "We've only got a few...Anne will have Dawn in Warren's and Amy's hands soon..."

Anya?...Xander looked at him...

"Even if they try they can't harm her seriously, Xan...Thank God for that little cause in D'Hoffryn's contract...But listen, can either of you...Clem?...Ole fellow, any chance you could use your talents a bit?..."

Hmmn...? Xander eyed his companion...

"I can try..." Clem nodded...Trembling all over, his loose skin looser than ever...

He paused as Anne came slowly back up from below...An unfathomable expression on her human face as she reached ground level...A vicious coldness, but somewhere mixed in, Xander noted...Sadness...Perhaps even...Somewhere, as she avoided Will's look...Shame...

The moment passed and she looked round, grinning at them...

"Geesh, guys...I am disappointed...Haven't you all escaped yet?..." she shook her head...Moving over to the middle of the room between where William sat chained, across from Xander and Clem likewise...

"So, c'mon...Who's loosed their chains and is ready to run off?...Or club me one the moment I turn my back?..."

She came over to Xander and Clem...Eyeing their chains and handcuffs...Then to William...Rubbing his handcuffed hand a moment... "Stop twisting it round, you're chaffing it..." she began...

A momentary startle in her eyes as he shook her off from his hand...A look she brushed off immediately, smiling again, a bit wanly...

"Expected better from my ole pals..." she sighed... "And here I was, ready to hunt Xander and dog-boy down...Even if I'd have to use my umbrella outside now..."

"If I were free, Anne..." William replied coolly... "You wouldn't be going anywhere..."

"Spoken like a loving papa, Papa..." she nodded... "So I'll let that challenge pass...For now..."

Anyway...Dawn is with Amy and Warren now, so you'd best be good guests and wait it out quietly...

A long look at William...A plea in there? Xander wondered...

"Anybody want anything?..." she smiled lightly... "Coffee, water, me...or maybe some blood, Will?"

"Yeah..." Xander eyed her... "Stop pretending to be Buffy...I'm sick of it...Keep your demon face and stick to the usual telling us how you and your new boy, Mears, are gonna rule Sunnydale and the world together after we're all dead...Will isn't buying your crap, Anne...And neither am I..."

She stepped over, looking at him almost gently...Still holding Buffy face...

Xander...

"My new boy, Warren Mears...?" she chuckled...And slapped him suddenly, viciously...

"Anne!..." William called... "Enough!..."

"Xander, I really should kill you for that one..." she went on, ignoring Will... "But..." she leaned to his ear...Whispering... "I'll leave it at this...I am Buffy...You knew it when you came to kill us and you know it now...You can't deny me and even she has to admit to it in the end...We are Buffy..."

But then...You oughta see Vallee, your demon, sometime, boy...she grinned...

"But maybe you will...Soon..."

Vallee...? Xander frowned...Oh, right...

God, I hate that middle name...

"Ok...I've done an official vengeance demon summons..." Amy looked at Anya who stared at her coldly... "So now...You have a choice, Anya..." she sighed at her...

"Either you can let me put you under for a bit...Or you can hear my wish...It's up to you which you think is the safer course for you..."

"But once you hear my wish...My vengeance wish...You're bound to it..." she noted...Anya glaring as Warren watched, with Dawn, who sat blankly on the Summers' living room sofa...

"Never hurts to have a leetle extra firepower for the team..." he smirked, as Anya pondered her options...It was true, after all...If Amy placed a formal wish for vengeance in her presence...

"Well?..." Amy stared... "A little nap?...Or do you wanna help me with Willow?..."

"Hey, let me try..." Warren grinned... "I gotta humdinger of a wish..."

"You haven't summoned me, Mears..." Anya sneered... "So take your wish and stuff it..."

She looked at the waiting Amy...Glancing at Dawn...

"If you let her hurt Dawn..." she smiled coldly... "I'll grant that wish I can feel right at the top of your mind..."

I'll give you your deathwish...As a freebie, no request required...she eyed the witch...Death...And then some...

Amy staring in turn... "Amy..." Warren's call pulling her back...She turned...

Startled a moment to see, somewhere, in his look...Behind the miffed annoyance at her delay...And her refusal to risk using Anyanka...The slightest...Plea...

Don't leave me...?

She smiled at him just a second...Well, if you really...Want me...The moment fading as quickly...

"Amy?...Enough already...Wish her to..." Warren began...

Anya grabbed at her... "If you make a wish, I'll twist it!...I'll make you both suffer, I swear!..."

Put me under...she sighed...

"Wish her to help us!..." Warren insisted...

"No...She's right, Warren...It's what these demons do..." Amy looked at him... "You know that as well as I do...We'd be foolish to try it..."

She waved her arms a bit and Anya rolled her eyes and collapsed...

"That should hold her for a bit..."

"You sure she's under...?"

"Yeah..."

"And...?" he eyed her...Amy nodding...Great, he beamed...Our lil' playlet worked...

La Vengeance didn't figure on this one...As if he, Warren Mears, weren't fully versed in demon lore...Well aware of the dangers of using vengeance demons...And hardly stupid enough to try one who was friend to his worst enemies...

"Anya...?" Amy asked quietly... "Can you hear me...?"

Yes...the crumpled Anya on the floor whispered, in deep sleep... I hear you...

"I'm a customer...Tell me about what you and Mr. Giles have in your shop...The magics..." Amy asked...

"We've a full selection...Can meet any needs..." Anya gave the full pitch...She'd always said she could do it in her sleep...

"Ask her about energy drainers..." Warren cut in...Amy hushing him...

"Do you carry anything capable of draining mystic energy...Something that stores mystic energy?..." she asked carefully...

"Yes..." Anya nodded... "Orbs of Callos...They'll store any kind of mystic power...On sale right now..."

"Where are they?...Anya...Can I see them?..."

"Back of the shop..." Anya feebly pointed... "I'll get them for you..."

"That's ok..." Amy gently told her... "Just tell me...Where?..."

Warren and Amy carefully guided Dawn to their car...Leaving a still unconscious Anya behind in the Summers' living room, courtesy Amy's spell...

Dawn sat blankly in the rear as Amy watched her...Sitting beside Warren...

Staring at the bandaged wrist Dawn had carefully covered with her other hand...

"Lets move..." Warren nodded to her...

"Time for us to pick up our partner and for you to start making Willow's day a bit rocky..."

Ok...Amy sighed...Key in the ignition...Hesitating...

He stared at her...

"What?..."

"Warren...I could release her...At least keep Anne from summoning her..." she indicated Dawn... "And help Buffy drive Anne back..."

And if I did that...The others, even Willow...Might...

"We murdered Buffy Summers, Amy..." Warren eyed her coldly... "You think her friends are gonna forget and forgive that...?"

"And we have a chance thanks to dear ole Anya the demon lady...If Anne and I can get into that shop and reach those orbs while you keep Willow busy..."

"Warren...Lets forget it...Screw Anne...Lets go...While we can..." she pleaded...Gently touching his arm... "I'll protect..."

He glared at her...You'll what?...

"Look, girlie...Warren Mears doesn't..." he paused...She smiling a bit wanly at him...

"All right..." he sighed... "All right...I do need your help, Amy..."

"But I haven't gone this far...Come this close...Put my life on the line...To wuss out now..."

You wanna get out and take your own chances...Fine...He waved at the door...

"Get out...If you want..." he eyed her...

"Anne was right about you...She knew you'd toss it in when things got hairy...I knew it too...So go on and get out..."

"Warren..."

Go...he glared...

"Or stay...But if you stay...You're in for the full monty...Make up your mind...Are you with me or no?..."

"I'll stay..." she sighed... "Willow...Or your Anne...Will kill me anyway sooner or later...But you're a fool, Warren..."

She suddenly kissed him...As he stared at her in surprise...

"There may not be time later..." she eyed him mournfully...And started the car...

A quietly thoughtful Anne greeted Warren, Amy, and Dawn as they entered Will's crypt...

"Hey, fellas..." she eyed the blankly-staring Dawn...As did William from his spot against the opposite wall...

Dawn...she eyed her sis...

"Go over to that slab and lie down...Go to sleep..."

Dawn went silently over and lay down...Asleep in an instant...

"She'll need to get used to it anyway..." Anne noted, smiling at Will...

Whose returned look was enough to leave even her a bit unnerved...

"I could have had her kill herself right in front of you, William..." Anne pointed out...

No need to get all hissy-cat...

He just stared at her...And glanced at Warren and Amy...

"Guess we're ready as we'll ever be..." Anne smiled at her partners...

"Did Anya put up much of a fight?...Poor Xander over there is freakin' out of his skull, I'm sure?..."

"She's fine, Xander...Just asleep in a temporary stasis field..." Amy looked over at him...He nodded briefly and turned away...

"Was she...Helpful?..." Anne looked at Warren...

"We got what we needed..." he nodded back... "The big display case, lower left shelf..."

Nice...She smiled... "Just about all the pieces in place..."

You ready...? she looked at Amy...

Yeah...the wiccan nodded, sadly...

"Like that enthusiasm, kiddo..." Anne grinned... "But try to keep it within bounds while you keep our Willow hoppin'..." she turned to Mears... "You ready...?" he nodded as she quickly grinned again at Amy...A sneer...

"Boyfriend?..." she finished, smiling at him...Starting for the entrance...

"Anne..." Amy called to her...

"If he gets hurt...You get hurt..." she told her...

Aw...Anne smirked, glancing at Warren...Smiling over to William who watched them...

"Ain't love grand?..." she sneered...

"I'll watch over lover boy...He's my partner too, sweetie..." she grinned...They headed out, Amy watching...

"She'll kill him, you know..." William eyed her quietly...

No...Amy shook her head...She won't...

"It's too much fun for her to leave him alive...Helpless...Once she deals with me..." she gently smiled at Will and waving her arms, vanished...

Outside, Anne carefully unfurling her umbrella, Warren stared at her...Well?...

"One of them will get free before we reach the shop, I'm sure..." Anne nodded... "So long as Amy does her bit properly...We'll have our chance..."

Deathwishes...Part XLIII...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLIII...

The slight nervousness Willow was at pains not to betray to Giles after she was unable to reach Anya at the Summers' or Xander outside Will's crypt was almost immediately overwhelmed by the shock and rage she experienced on seeing Amy materialize in front of them...

And as quickly, vanish...Though not before experiencing a wee bit of shock on her own part, seeing a Willow clearly contemplating a move...In the romantic department...On a rather unsuspecting Giles...As the two sat next to each other at the research table...

My God...Willow and Mr...Giles?...Amy thought, blinking at them...And she seems the one trying to get them...Going...?

Amy?...Willow looked at Giles...

Damn...Just when I'd finally worked up the nerve...Another moment and...

Whoa...! Amy!...

"Rupert...!...Amy, she's the one!..." she cried...

I mean in terms of killing our Buf...Not as my new love interest, Rupert...she thought...Quickly feeling for a tracking spell...Amy, that ungrateful...Worthless...Murderess...

Murderess...? the thought struck her even as she waved to teleport...

Like me...?

"Wait, Willow...!" Giles called...Too late as she vanished in turn...

"Well...Here we are...All on our lonesome at last..." Anne grinned at Warren as he drove Amy's car towards the shop...She keeping herself carefully covered against the afternoon sun...

"Kinda like our first date, sorta..." she chuckled at him as he glanced at her...

C'mon Mearsy...she beamed at him... "Don't tell me you ain't loving the idea...You finally getting Buffy Summers'...Her bod at least...To workin' with you..."

"It was what you had in mind all along with this little transformation scheme, after all...Wasn't it?...You could've just killed me...Buffy, anyway...When we were unconscious the other night..."

You wanted it all...she teased...Not just Buffy dead...But a Buffy...Or at least an Anne...Who'd give you the time of day...Or night at least...

"We got things to do Anne...This isn't the time to start trying to psych me out..." he replied, watching the road...

"I'm hurt, partner..." she sneered... "And here I was...Thinkin' ya did this all for love..."

"I'm not an idiot, Anne...I know what you're trying to do..." he glanced at her a second... "I know you're...Married, if you like...Cicely..."

She eyed him...

"You're the one doing this for love...Mrs. Walthrop..." he continued... "For love of your William, that is..."

"In fact...I'm dealing with all three of you, aren't I?...Buffy...and two Brits...One demon...Workin' together...?" he gave another quick glance...

She smiled thinly and nodded...Not bad...On the ball there, Mearsy...

"Right enough, mate..." she smiled, a phony Cockney... "My "sisters" and I do have our own little partnership going for now...And I was in with Cicely from the beginning, back in England...I'm bloody impressed, Mearsy..."

"I'm not so big a fool as you and your "sis" Buffy thought..." he looked out on the road, turning into Main St... "So you may as well can the games regards Amy and me..."

"Sorry..." she grinned... "Can't help doing what comes naturally...Especially to a guy like you, Mearsy...But you oughta know...Whatever else I am...I am a demon...And we hate competition in the pride..."

And there's always room for a few spare mates...I was thinkin' of including Xander as well as you and maybe my dear Giles and even my ole army buddy, Mr. Riley Finn...

Uh-huh...

"What do you really want from Amy and me, Anne?..." he asked...Keeping eyes on the road as traffic thickened on Main...

William?...he suggested as she stared out at the traffic, silent...

"We might still be able to do it for you...Amy anyway...And leave your sisters choking on your dust..."

"He wouldn't..." Anne blurted suddenly...

Warren grinned now...Ah, honesty at last...

"If there was a way...?...If you could twist things to your advantage?..." he paused... "Of course any plans you have with the soul sisters for getting the better of us would have to go in the can...But we were always expecting you to cross us, you know..."

She blinked at him...

"Being on the lam has improved you, Warren...But...William would never... "

"Suppose...He...And everyone else...Thought you were the real Buffy..." she glared at him suddenly..."Sorry...The souled Buffy, I mean...You have her memories, right?...You could play her...And Cicely...In a pinch...?"

What?...

"Lets hole up a mo...Amy should be able to give us a good half-hour with Willow not supercharged and all..." he turned into a open parking spot, about two blocks from the Magic Box on Main...

"William...Would know...They'd all know..." she began, looking at him...This was a turn of events she hadn't quite... "He knew before...Almost right away..."

"You're already partially transformed...The souls and demon are all present, it's just a matter of which one dominates..." he noted...And if Amy and I could make it seem that Buffy was dominant again...

"And...Even if that could be done well enough..." Anne stared at him...A vague, formless hope taking hold in spite of herself..."How'd I explain why I let you two get away?...Presuming, unlike your lady friend, you have a desire to go on living?..."

"Let?..." he smiled... "Hardly...We get away only after a ferocious battle...And your vowing of an eternal quest to find us and bring us to justice..."

A quest, sadly...Never to be fulfilled...he shook his head...You and your William...And any surviving friends, having to flee Sunnydale to escape our power, once we take control here...

"After all...With poor Willow no longer in a position to fight us and your friend Mr. Giles' magics in our possession..." he sighed... "You guys will have no way of fighting us for quite a while...If ever..."

"William would know..." she looked at him...But something in her eyes- grasping, desperate...

"You are Buffy, aren't you?...In a part-vamp body?...And he knows Anne's there, just below the surface..." he smiled at her... "So what's there to know...?"

"I tried to fool them before...He knew..." she sighed...

"Amy can cover you...And provide the explanation for your...Buffy's...Escape from Anne's control..."

"You...Amy...Really could do it?...Make them believe?..." she paused...

I could...Stay?...As Buffy...she eyed him...

"Buffy in a part-vamp body..." he nodded... "You couldn't let them cure you, naturally...But then, without Willow's ability...How could they?..."

Of course, making them believe you're Buffy's dear soul is your job...he noted...

"But I have faith in your acting ability...And after all...You do love him...Maybe all of them...?" he smiled... "In your own vicious little way..."

"You're lying..." she stared out the car window at couples passing along the sidewalk...In this body, I could even go out...There...she thought...

William with me...By night, anyway...Not me watching while they have him...Me...Anne, who saved him...Who loves him more than those cowardly, gutless, duty-bound human bitches could ever imagine...

"We can do it, Anne...We can mask you...And if you can give them a reason for believing you're their Buffy soul, back in the saddle..."

And give an Oscar-caliber performance as Ms. Buffy-Cicely Summers-Walthrop, tormented part-vamp Slayer, but ever-loving wife, mother-sis, and friend...

"At least until you get bored with your little family...And start a killing spree..."

"How could I ever...Even if you masked me...?"

"Well...There is a way to restore a soul to control in a vamp body, right?..." Warren grinned at her...

A way good ole Willow is probably trying to convert for you right now...

"The way your old boyfriend, Angelus?...was restored?..."

Angel...If you mean the soul...she corrected...And the spell didn't leave Angelus behind in the body...

How?...she stared at him...

"Angelus had quite a rep in the underworld...His reappearances and re-exiling raised quite a stir...And as your name came up, Buffy...I naturally was interested..."

Though, to be honest, it was good ole Jonathan who was fascinated by the whole thing...But I remembered it...

"Amy and I have spent a little time going over what info there is on it..." he smiled...

At William's crypt...Anne's faith in her friends and lover were...Albeit slowly...Proving justified...

"Clem?..." William called to him... "Any luck?..."

A littttle...More...Clem groaned...Tugging at his loosened skin...

"Careful..." Xander eyed the smeared blood on his friend's wrist...

"Just a little..." the demon gave a quiet look over to the heavily sleeping Dawn... "Mooore...Uh..."

His hand...And a hefty patch of loose, bloodied skin...Slipped out of a handcuff...

"Got it..." he sighed...Stretching his arm and hand out towards the little table where Buffy and Will had eaten their first full meal together in a century...And grabbing a knife...

Will staring at the torn, hanging skin...

"No problem..." Clem looked at the wound... "Smarts a little, heals like that..." he lied...Starting to unwrap chain from his chest...While handing the knife to Xander who began picking at his handcuff lock...

"Thanks, old fellow..." William nodded...

"Of course, you understand...I'll have to speak to the Missus regarding who she'll allow our Amelia-Dawn to date..." he grinned...

"This...?" Anne looked at the charm...Warren nodded...

"It's a simple reflexive charm...But it will do the job, thanks to your souls already being present...The curse will be deflected harmlessly and your demon essence will be masked by its reflection of the souls' presence...Not even a vamp will be able to sense you, so long as you wear it and the curse is maintained..."

"Willow's naturally not gonna use the curse unless there's no other way...But if she felt she had to use it in some form...And if dear restored soul-in-part-vamp Buffy then saved her from the foul Warren and Amy..." Warren smiled...

"I thought you wanted Willow dead...?" Anne stared at him... "You're ready to let her live?...Come after you...?"

"Once she storms in...And she "saves" you just as the dreadful Anne is about to kill her or your dear Watcher...We hit her with the orbs...She drains...And while drained, Amy blocks her power off...Permanently..."

And who cares if little Willow Rosenberg lives once she's powerless...he grinned...

"You save her from us...Heck, save em all if you want...Take em out of town to safety...And we take over..."

"Giles would have the Council counterattack..." she eyed him... "Even if Willow couldn't...They'd never abandon the Hellmouth to you two..."

Council, smouncil...Mears waved a hand...Without Willow's power, they wouldn't stand a chance once we tap the Hellmouth...

"They'd check me..."

"And find two souls and a demon cohabiting...The demon held down by a special curse..."

"They're not fools, Warren...And the Council's got more strengths than either of us imagines, I'm sure..."

"My, my..." he shook his head... "Amy made me hold back this part until now in case you seemed reluctant and ready to go running to Willow, but I expected more courage and daring than this from Buffy Summers' demon...Do you want a crack at your William's love...For all time...or no?...Are you the true Mrs. Walthrop?...Or is Buffy-Cicely...?"

Once you get there, how long you last as beloved Buffy is up to you...But we can give you the chance...he beamed...

Admit it, Annie girl...he grinned... "You're liking it...And it is better than the "raid-and-try-to-kill-Willow" thing you thought we had in mind..."

She stared at him...

"Amy didn't seem to have much faith in your scheme...Though it's true, I didn't realize it was quite as elaborate as this..."

"Amy's sensible as she is suicidal...She sees the holes and the half-empty glass...Like your William...And she's right, we may very well lose it all...But that's why we...You and me, Anne...Are essential...We're the daring ones...But she'll come through for us...I know she can do it..."

Anne looked at her hands, thinking...

Who'd of thought...Caught by surprise by Warren Mears' plan...But then, his schemes had been improving of late...

"Well?...Mrs. Walthrop?..." he eyed her... "Ready to turn over a new leaf as the restored champion of good...?...And win back your William's love?...Or maybe you should just go back to Hell and let us duke it out with your sisters and Ms. Rosenberg?"

Deathwishes...Part XLIV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLIV...

The phone rang in the Magic Box...Giles, buried in a book of tracking spells, with two mystic energy orbs on the research table in front of him, paused to grab it...

"Giles?..." Xander's voice... "Amy is..."

"We know Xander, Amy was here just now...Willow left in pursuit of her...Where are you?"

"Just by Will's cemetery...Anne and her partners grabbed us, I'm afraid...But Clem got us free after they left...And Dawn is safe with Will..."

Giles...he paused...

"It's Warren...He's alive...He did this..."

Mears?...Giles gasped...Alive?...

"Willow killed a clone, Amy helped him...Has been helping him...And Anne may be working with him...Or at least playing along with them..."

"Yes...We know...We believe...Well, save that for now...What do you and William propose to do?"

"Warren and Anne are coming for you, Giles...They want the stuff at the shop...They're hoping to use it against Willow...Amy must be trying to pull her away for them..."

And has succeeded, I'm afraid...Giles sighed...

"You've got to hold them off, Giles...Til we can get to you..."

"Xander?...Anya?..."

"Amy said she was ok, just unconscious at Buffy's...But..."

"I see...Go there first, Xander...I'll do what I can here...Though I'm not sure what they could be after here...I may be able to block Anne's entry here..."

"As for our dear Mr. Mears...I relish the pleasure of meeting him..."

"Well...Will's coming to you straight with Clem via the ole Spikemobile...I'll come soon as I can, though I don't think Amy was lying about An...I doubt she could kill her if she wanted to..."

"Can William make it to the car?"

"Clem will get him there...Besides..." A wan chuckle... "If we tried to stop him, the loving husband here would knock us silly and come anyway...In fact..." he waved hastily at the figures racing by...One covered in blankets and coat...

"They're on their way..."

"All right...I'd best get to it..."

"Willow's..." Xander choked a bit... "She's free, Giles...She didn't kill him..."

Yes...A pause... "It's wonderful, Xander...But...You do realize...She still knows she was capable of it..."

Yeah...A sigh... "But she knows now...Even Buffy is capable of it..." A pause... "I'd better let you go and head out myself...They've just pulled out...Good luck, Giles..."

"You, too..." he hung up...

Hmmn...Giles eyed the orbs...Well, no point in tracking her now...Teleportation will have to wait...

Oh, Willow...My headstrong Willow...God keep her safe, poor darling...

Well...A barrier spell is called for...And with these orbs to power it...Anne will be spending a fruitless day outside...he pulled another book to his side...Thumbing carefully...

In fact...he mused...These Callos orbs might be just what I need for Amy...

As for Warren Mears...He smiled to himself grimly...Tormentor of my Willow...Murderer of my Buffy, the only "daughter" I will ever have...

That pathetic, loathsome thing is going to be wishing for an easy death by flaying when I've finished with him...

"Excuse me...?" the sole customer at the front of the shop...Damn fool couldn't see the "Closed, Come Again" sign?...

"A moment, miss..." he called... Starting the chant...

Just in time, he realized...As a figure...Or two...? Appeared now at the door...Anne...And presumably, Warren...

He raced on through the spell...

"Hey, Giles..." Anne called, as Warren opened the door...

Arggh...She fell back, mild half-demon face appearing...And tried again, furious...As Warren stepped inside...

The door suddenly jerked from his grasp and slammed shut...Anne pounding on it from outside...

"Giles!..." she hollered...

Ummn...The customer stared at the two men...Glaring at each other...

"I'll be..." she nervously moved towards the door...Whoops, shrieking maniac just outside...

"I'm just gonna look at the books here a bit..." she noted...

"Welcome...Mr. Warren Mears, I presume?..." Giles stared...

"Rupert...Giles...?" Warren attempted the pose of a Fearless Leader...A nervous grin...

"I see you took care of my partner pretty easily..." he indicated Anne, now carefully watching as she stood outside, clearly waiting for any chance to enter...Via her partner or perhaps grabbing the next clueless customer...

"But you might as well not try anything with me...I'm magics protected..." he waved a charm...

"Indeed..." Giles eyed him...

Even better...he moved on the murderer of his "daughter"...On him even before Amy, disguised, could whirl from the books she'd been looking through to face him...

"Let him go, Giles!..." she hollered...Waving to reveal herself...

He stared, holding Mears firmly in a vise grip...Warren making feeble efforts to twist free...

"Amy?..."

"Willow's chasing a shadow, I'm afraid, Giles..." she smiled faintly... "Guess I've improved a bit since you guys last saw me..."

"Improved...Is hardly the word I'd use Amy..." Giles stared at her...Tightening his hold on Mears...

She shrugged...And her eyes darkened...

"Don't make me hurt you, Giles...Let him go...Please..."

Anne looked in through a door window...Waiting...

He released Mears...Who staggered over to Amy, gasping...

"I'm sorry, Giles..." Amy shook her head... "I could wish things had turned out differently...But you people all abandoned me when I needed you..."

"Is that a worthy motive for murdering the woman who saved your life...? For helping this..." he eyed the still-gasping Warren...

"We...'re...Not here...To argue...Pal..." Mears choked out, stumbling to a chair... "Just do...Like we ask...Or lil' Dawny joins her sis...In an...alternate lifestyle..."

"I will leave you to William, Mears..." Giles nodded at him... "He deserves to have you to himself...But, Amy...I warn you...You will not leave this place alive if you don't surrender right now and raise the spell you blocked our exorcism with..."

"I'm still up and running Giles...I don't see anything to indicate you've got something to stop me..." she replied...

"Dawn is quite safe for the moment...William is on his way...And Willow will be back as soon as she catches on to your little game, Amy..." Giles took a careful stance...

"And I am not without some "protections" myself..."

Warren looked up at Amy...Who nodded...

"We figured you'd have some personal defense..." she smiled at Giles... "But wherever Dawn is, Anne still has a hold on her..."

"Anne?..." she called to the door... "Can you feel Dawn?..."

Outside, carefully holding her umbrella while attempting a nonchalant, causal shopper stare in the windows for the few passers-by, Anne gave a brief nod...

"She's at risk so long as Anne has that hold, Giles..." Amy looked at him...An unconscious hand out to the sitting Warren...

"As is your friend, there..." Giles gave a slight wave, Warren darting eyes nervously...Huh?...As his chair upended...

"Stop!..." she hollered...Eyes black...A wave, and Giles was hurled back...

"You haven't the power on hand, Giles...Don't try it...!" she called as he stumbled to his feet...

"Anyway..." she calmed, watching him as he came back towards them... "What we want is very simple...Let Anne in and you go out..."

"No...To both..." he said quietly... "You've made a serious mistake coming here, girl...You're on my territory now..."

"Get him out of here...! Now!..." Mears called...

"I can't magics him out...But I can hurt you, Giles..." she frowned... "So tell Anne to come in...And leave while you can...We'll take our chances with Willow when she comes..."

Yeah...Warren nodded... A fair fight...Wiccan and half-vamp to super-Wiccan...

"I can imagine your idea of a "fair fight", Mr. Mears..." Giles moved position a bit, Amy watching...

"And I think I can hold on until Willow returns, thanks for your concern, Amy..."

He waved again and the orbs on his desk suddenly flared up, flaming bright...

"Were these what you were hoping to find here?..." he called pleasantly...

"Welcome to Seattle..." the sign proclaimed...Willow staring up from the asphalt road she'd materialized on...Whoa!...She dodged a huge truck zipping up from behind and raced for the safety of the highway median...

"So...Willow..." Amy called from behind, Willow spinning round... "Nice we arrived on the one sunny day, huh...?" And vanished...

Neat car...Thought the young man fleeing for dear life as the Spikemobile nearly plowed him down on Main Street...Now five blocks from the Box...

Odd with that painted windshield and all...

"An...?" Xander raced over to Anya, prone on the Summers' couch...Her eyelids fluttering as he shook her...Kneeling beside her...

Sleeping Beauty, the image popped into his mind...She mumbled slightly in her sleep...

Well, why not?...He kissed her...No effect, except that she turned slightly and put out a hand...

And suddenly, began singing in a low, mumbley voice... "Mr. Xander Harris...That's the name he carries with pride..."

Lately I'm just Anya...she murmured...

"No...Baby, no..." he patted her... "Never just Anya...Love of my life...If only I were worthy of you..."

Hmmn...? He stared at her...There was one thing that might catch her attention, even subconsciously...

Worth a try...And he was kneeling, after all...He took her hand...

"Ms. Jenkins...?...I know I've been a fool and something of a coward...But I love you more than I can ever say...And if you could find it in your heart..." he began...

She opened her eyes, blinking...Xander?...

"An...Thank God..." he patted her, starting to rise... "We've gotta get..."

"Hey?..." she pulled at him... "Weren't you about to ask me something...?"

He stared back...

"Yeah..." he smiled...Kneeling again...

Back at the crypt, Clem watched the fitfully sleeping Dawn...Her hand still firmly clutching the stake in her pocket that Anne had made her take...

"Been so long since I let myself care about any mortal, God..." he prayed...Standing over her... "They live such short lives...Like the little butterflies...But I care about this one...And her sister...And my poor friend William..."

I wasn't a bad fellow in life...Never consciously did harm...And I haven't complained 'bout how things worked out for me...But I don't think it would be too much to ask for you to spare this little one...Please...

He gently pulled at her arm, carefully moving to the clenched fist...

"I'm so sorry Dawny...Please forgive me..." he pried at the fist, a slight groan from Dawn as she struggled...

He gave a desperate wrench, a cry from Dawn...The stake came loose...At the cost of at least one broken finger, he realized, staring at her poor hand as she moaned in her sleep...

He felt a slight touch of cold...Like a faint breeze...and turned...To see the little boy who'd choked at the sight of him in his clown suit, so long ago, staring at him...Nodding and smiling as he faded out...

He stared at the spot for a moment and sat down beside the murmuring Dawn...

Deathwishes...Part XLV...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLV...

Cold...Willow's first impression...As she materialized on what appeared to be a mountain summit, snow-capped...

Cold...And Whoa!...Slippery...As she found herself sliding down towards a ledge...

"Welcome to Mount Rainier...!" Amy called as Willow slid past...Desperately grabbing for anything solid...

Hmmn...Anne stared into the shop as she waited...Having covered her eyes from the blinding flash of the orbs of Callos Giles had just activated...

Things don't look so good for my partners...As Giles came over to them...Clearly having done something to gain the upper hand...He grabbed Warren, forcing an arm back as Amy stood, clearly unable to intervene magically...

Warren and his bright ideas...She watched as Giles "persuaded" the idiot human partners to sit and allow him to begin tying them up...

Lovely...She pondered her options...Try summoning Dawn?...A threat to her life?...Or just turn and make tracks for...?

A squeal of brakes as the Spikemobile pulled up...

She calmly sauntered over and opened the unlocked driver's door... "Hey, honey..." she grinned into the open car as a somewhat unprotected William eyed her from the safety of the dark interior...

She turned serious, seeing the sunlight reflecting in spots into the car... "Be careful, William...Didn't you bring any cover at all?...What the hell were you thinking?..."

"I was thinking of my child and my wife..." he eyed her...A bit ruefully...

Might have been well to wait for ole Clem at that...But in the heat of the moment, foot had hit pedal, pedal, metal...

"Dawn's ok for now...And we sisters three are holdin' up..." she grinned... "But thanks for caring, baby..."

Looks like my guys have got things well in hand in there...she hooked a thumb at the door of the shop...

"Really?..." he replied drily... "A little rude of 'em to leave you out here...Or are you taking the first watch on guard?"

Eh...She waved a hand...Giles put up a good barrier...Amy needs a little time...

"Then should I assume you are not keeping your word to me, Anne?...That I can't count on you?..." he stared at her...

"Time will tell, Will..." Hi...she nodded to a passer-by... "And I don't remember ever spelling any promises of good behavior out in so many words..." she smiled to him...Whirling to grab the passing woman's arm so quickly she had no time to shout...And dragging her more or less out of sight by the open car door...

"Anne?...Let her go!..." The young woman struggled helplessly...As Anne quickly sank her fangs in...

"No!..." she looked up, dropping the girl and racing to the door as Will started out of the car... "No, Will!...I'm not killin' her...Just a little for control..." she shoved at him... "You'll burn, Will!...Stop it!...Stop!..."

"I've had enough, Anne...!" he threw her back...And started to climb out, smoldering...

"No!..." she screamed, as she leapt on him...

Inside the shop, Giles confronted Warren and a now powerless Amy...Bound in the chairs he'd waved them to after using the orbs to drain her...

"This game is over, Mears..." he began...Anne's scream drawing his attention to the scene outside...He raced to the door...

"Giles!..." Anne screamed... "Don't let him burn!..." her victim, the young woman now trying wanly to help cover both him and her mistress...Anne having lost her umbrella in the confusion the strong mid-day sun was quickly searing her rather sensitive skin red as well...

He opened the door and grabbed at the smouldering Will, tossing him inside...

"Come in, Anne...!" he pulled at her...The young woman struggling to follow, he tossed her back and shut the door...Locking it as the girl feebly pounded and rattled the doorknob...

He patted down the few flames which had started on Will as the vampire moaned on the floor...

"Is he alright?...Giles?" Anne cried...

A foolish mistake, he realized...I could have left her outside...She'd survive, half-vamp as she is...A trick?...

And yet...Her desperate concern left no doubt...She made her way over to Will, clearly in some pain herself, half-vamp or no...And knelt by him...

"Get some water!...Please..." she turned to Giles...Who went over to a water cooler, reviewing what he had on hand for restraining a vampire as he hurried...Pausing just a second by a table stand...

"He'll be alright..." she sighed...A wan smile up at her Watcher as she took the cup and water-soaked cloth with thanks...

"My Victorian hero..." she shook her head...Putting the cup to William's lips...Raising his head gently...He sagged back...

"So..." she smiled again up at Giles... "We gonna have our turn to fight it out...?" she eyed the bound Amy and Warren...

"Odds lookin' to be in your favor... For the mo..." she grinned...

"I don't want to fight you, Anne..." he sighed...

But I will do what's necessary...he raised a squirt gun...Holy water, no doubt...

"With all the magics energy drained out in here, you'll need more than that, Giles..." she told him, almost gently, as she rose...William now unconscious from pain on the floor...

Amy can't have this much power...Willow sighed as she waved hands frantically to part the Mexico City traffic bearing down on her...

This is some kind of...Amy popped in front of her... "Bueno, Willow...See ya..." she vanished...But not, this time, before Willow could put out a capture spell which failed to slow her departure...

An illusion...No doubt about it...Though a very classy job, I must admit, she thought...

Whoa!...The shop!...Giles!...That's what they're after...A direct assault on us...And here I am, letting myself be dragged around the continent...she waved arms and vanished...

If she hurts my Rupert...

Whoa!...My...?

"Hey, Wil..." Anne beamed at her as the wiccan materialized in the center of the Box...

Holy Mother of God!...And ya know...Willow thought as she stared...At a living Warren Mears, bound securely in a chair next to Amy's...

Yo...Warren gave a little grin...Disaster might be looming for the Fearless Leader of the old and new Trios but he'd have his lil' carping session...

"Hold it!..." Anne indicated Giles, held in the grip of the young victim she'd just let in the shop...Standing beside her...

She took Giles in her own grip as Willow watched, pondering...

William on the floor, bound as well...The girl turning to cover him with a stake Anne'd given her...

"Dawn was supposed to be our hostage but as she can't be here..." Anne grinned at Giles...

"Well, Wil...You wanna threaten to kill my partners or do we skip the nonsense?..." she continued, smiling at Amy and Warren...

'Cause you know demons aren't likely to shed many tears over human partners...

"What do you want, Anne?" Willow eyed her...

Whatcha got?...she grinned back...

"Cause I want it all..."

"Anne...I think you've been trying to help...At least help William...And even Dawn, in your twisted way...All you gotta do now is let Giles go and let me take care of Warren and Amy..."

And me?...Anne smiled... "No...I don't think so...I want some better return for my efforts..."

"Anne...I can kill you...And your little helpers here..." Willow waved at the bound Warren and Amy... "Easily..."

"But you won't..." Anne shrugged... "Not while sweet Buffy's around, ready to take her much abused body back..."

"Buffy would understand if I have to kill her as well as you..."

Would she...? Anne grinned...

"You might be surprised what Buffy understands...And what she is up to, Ms. Rosenberg..."

"You're all working together...You, Cicely, Buffy...We know that..." Willow nodded...

And Buffy...she paused... I understand...You're trying to save him...We all understand...Dawn will, too...

"But you have to help me now...And drive Anne back...We've got Warren and Amy, it's time for you...And Cicely...to come back..."

Anne chuckled a bit...

"You've "got" Amy and Warren, eh...? Like you got Warren last time?...God, damn you Willow I'm dead cause you failed to "get" him..."

"No, Willow..." Giles called... "Don't listen to her..."

William stirred on the floor, twisting a bit...

"Anyway, Willow..." Anne smiled... "You're right...There's not gonna be a fight...You waited a mite too long...You're nearly out of energy after teleporting all round the world chasing her shadow...And the orbs have been sucking your remaining power, at a lower rate...Magics ain't gonna work here now and you can't stop me by powering up..."

Amy figured things very closely...she nodded at her partner...

"So...Now...I'm gonna take my partners...William...These very useful orbs..." she pointed... "And Giles...As a little extra insurance...And go..."

"No..." Willow shook her head... "This stops here, Annie..."

Ah...Anne grinned... So then it's my turn to kick every square inch of your butt, then?...

"But bein' short on time, I think I'll just vamp you..." she shoved Giles aside and hurled herself at Willow...Who dodged and tried to send out an energy wave...It was true...Nearly running on empty...

Anne pulled up...Grinned and charged again, as William struggled to rise from the floor...And Willow desperately waved arms...Chanting...

Anne staggered, halting...

Staring...

"Willow?...Giles..."

"Buffy...?" Giles looked at her...Then Willow, shaken, who nodded...

"Buffy..." she sighed... "I'm so sorry...I had no choice..."

Will sat up, groaning...Buffy turning to him...Amy and Warren staring glumly...

"William..." she went over... "Are you ok?..."

Been worse...he sighed...

"The curse...?" Giles looked at Willow...She nodded...

"I didn't want to use it...But I was almost out of power..."

"It's alright, Wil...I understand..." Buffy murmured as she helped William to a chair... "But..."

Warren eyed Amy carefully...Stand-by...If all went like I...

"I think Warren's lookin' for this..." Buffy pulled the reflexive charm from her neck and tossed it to Willow, a quick glance at Mears... "He gave it to Anne, it was supposed to block things and mask her when you used the curse, I think..."

The faint smirk on Mears' face faded abruptly...

"Cute..." Willow held it up... "So you were ready for my flaying and the curse, too, eh Warren?...Always thinkin' ahead is our lil' chief nerd murderer..."

Sorry, Warren...Buffy eyed him briefly...Anne and us had a deal first...

"Guess you'll hafta settle for murdering me..." she turned away to Giles...

"Giles, is there any ointment?...You have a first-aid kit?..." she turned to him...He nodded and got up...As she looked at Willow, indicating Anne's victim, the young woman still standing, dazedly awaiting orders...Willow nodded and gently led the girl to a chair, Buffy smiling at her to indicate the mistress' approval...

Not too bad...Willow noted as she moved back...She'll be ok in a few hours...Buffy nodding gratefully...

Warren?...Amy hissed...If they take us out...

Wait...he hissed back...

"Don't let them get outside the room..." Will spoke up, wincing a little at the effort... "Amy's hoping to make a break if she can get away from the orbs..."

We won't...Willow nodded... "Not while she's conscious anyway..."

Giles returned from the back of the shop, first-aid kit in hand...Handing it to Buffy by William...Thanks...She opened it as he moved back to Willow...

"Willow?..." Buffy looked over at her, pausing... "Dawn?..."

"I think we can help her, Buffy...I'll have Xander bring her over..."

"Clem with her?..." she turned to William, who nodded...Eyeing her carefully as she began applying cream to his burns...

Giles staring at her as well... "William?..." he looked at him...

"Hard to say...They're all there, but it is the souls who are dominant now...Well as I can tell..."

"Shouldn't the curse have driven Anne out?..." he eyed Willow...

"Not strictly speaking, Will..." she shook her head... "The demon essence is as much a part of us as the soul...The leaving is voluntary...The curse restores the soul and our dear Angelus couldn't bear hangin' under the thumb of the soul boy...Anne, well..."

She likes being with you...Even if she can't run the show...Buffy finished...A weak smile...Sorry...she winced as he groaned as she applied more cream...

"And...Anne?...She let you have control back...? Even with that charm of Mears' to help her out...?"

"She knew you wouldn't be fooled..." Buffy replied...Looking him full in the eyes...

"I think...With all due apologies, my dear..." Giles sighed at her, she nodding..."We'd do well to be cautious..."

"I'm still a half-vamp in any case...I wouldn't take any chances..." Buffy gave him a weary smile...

"And it really is ok, Willow..." she smiled over at her...

However it turns out...I want to be here...With my husband and my family...All of you...

"But it's Dawn I'm worried about now...My daylight and feeding problems can sit...Giles, can you guys do anything...?"

Leaving out the staking me, for now...she grinned faintly...

Xander arrived with an exhausted but quietly joyful...Re-engaged...Anya...A few minutes later...Clem on the way with Dawn...he reported...

A bit concerned regards his ole pal who nearly ran him down with his car on leaving...he grinned over at Will, lying on the floor under Buffy's careful eye...

Anya joined Giles and Willow near Will and Buffy...

"Yeah..." she nodded in response to Giles' question...After carefully feeling out Buffy's aura...

"William's right...Buffy is back in control..."

But...She eyed Buffy... "The charm did work...The curse was blocked off...You don't have to worry about it..."

"What?..." Willow stared...

"Anne's allowed herself to be pushed down...She deliberately backed off..." Anya looked at Buffy..."And I'd recommend you block her off when you get the chance...The door is open for her yet..."

"It might be best to move the orbs and Amy to the store room..." Giles noted... "We can shield Willow in here and she can do the blocking spell..."

"So I can be happy, eh...? Phew..." Buffy grinned... "I mean just in case I get stuck in an Immortal body...And an Immortal relationship..." she patted Will beside her...

"Why did Anne give up so easily...?" William looked up at her... "She could have tried and brazened it out...Mears' little charm worked, if Anya's right..."

"A practical girl is my dark half..." Buffy shrugged... "She knew you'd know Will...And backing off this way...I think..." He nodded...

"Tell her I appreciate it...Though I can't forgive what she did to Amelia..." he stared at her...A hard edge in his voice...But, as always, she noted to herself...The kindness in the eyes...

She stared back...Looking...

"Thanks..." she looked away at the wall...

Well...Willow came to Giles, now looking over Warren and Amy...She ignoring the prisoners...He turned to her...

"I guess I won't be having a date with the Sunnydale PD after all..." she grinned slightly...

Warren suddenly whipped an arm loose, gun in hand...

"Nothing like good ole Science...And a little Houdini escape trick knowledge...To get one out of a tough corner..." he leered...

You always underestimated me, Ms. Rosenberg...he grinned up at Willow, waving her and Giles back...

"I should have known..." Buffy glared at him...Rising from where she knelt by William...

"You think I won't shoot you...Again, babe?..." Warren smiled at her...

"Bulletproof, Warren...Thanks to you...Remember...?" she moved towards him...

"Warren..." Amy called to him from her chair...

"Your friends aren't Ms. Summers..." he indicated the others... "And I would imagine your half-vamp body is leetle more sensitive to lead poisoning than dear ole Spike's is..."

"But lets not make this messier than it needs to be..." he pointed to the door... "Take your boyfriend and Mr. Giles and leave Ms. R and us to our lonesome for a bit..."

Amy needs to eliminate a potential rival in the art of magic...he grinned...Moving to Amy...

Buffy looked at Willow...

"Oh, not fatally...She's just gonna block her power off once she charges up a bit in the other room...We can't have super-Willow interfering with us anymore..." he smiled at her...

"And considering what she tried to do to me last year...I call that generous..." he pulled a bit at Amy's ropes, loosening them...

The others held their ground...Buffy clearly tensing...

"This is not a negotiation, lady..." he waved the gun... "And your lil' sis is on the way...Your "daughter", in fact, right?..." he gave a smirk...Amy, loose now, watching Buffy carefully...

"You wouldn't want to have me finish Anne's transformation by pumping a couple of bullets in her?..."

"I'm going to hurt you, Warren..." Buffy replied quietly... "I...We've...Had enough of you...And this time we are gonna hurt you like you hurt me...And my family..."

"Ok..." he nodded, moved the gun, and fired at Giles' arm...Striking him...The Watcher staggered...William tried to get up...Willow raced to Giles...Black rage on her face, trying to summon any dregs of powers she could...Nothing...

Warren tossed the remote for the chip to Amy who moved beside him... "Don't William..." she called to him as he tried to stand...Buffy turning to him...Willow looked at Buffy...

"You want us to fry his brain?...I've told you we're willing to keep this polite...Now back off, take your Watcher and your honey while you still can...And get out!..." Warren raged at Buffy...Who stared at him...

"Get out?..." she grinned... "Why partner?...You'd cut me out of the action after all I've done for you...?"

Deathwishes...Part XLVI...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLVI...

The Magic Box...Mid-afternoon...

Anne grinned at Warren as he covered the gang...Giles, Willow, William on the floor badly burned, Xander and Anya just behind them...With his pistol, Amy beside him...

A confused and enthralled young woman, Anne's latest victim, watching dazedly from a chair...Awaiting orders or transformation...

"Nicely done..." Warren grinned back... "Anne..."

She gave a mock bow...As William rose to his feet, furious...

"William!..." she turned... "Stop!..."

Amy waving the remote for his chip...He paused...Turning back to Anya...

"It was her, Will..." she replied, shaking her head... "It was Buffy..."

" 'Deed it was...I gotta give the credit for this one to sis..." Anne nodded... "And she was quite right, Will...I never thought I could fool you, so we let her have the stage..."

For a mo or two...

Will stared at her...

"Guys..." she shook her head at Giles and Willow, Willow bandaging the Watcher's bleeding hand with material from the first-aid...

"Ya really should have picked up the pace there...Anya did warn you that I was still hangin'..."

"Get out of here, Amy..." William suddenly spoke up, startling her... "Mears, you and your girl had best vamoose...Now, while you can...Go..."

Warren burst into chuckling laughter... "Are you kidding, blondie...?" he smirked, waving the gun...

"We've won...And you and your pals are the only ones leaving...While you can..."

Get 'em out...he looked at Anne...

"Excepting our dear Willow, naturally..."

She smiled, turning to her enthralled assistant, who wanly came over to Giles...

"Don't make me have the poor kid hurt you, Giles..." Anne looked at him...

Sorry, Willow...she eyed her...

"You're stayin'..." The girl pulled Giles away, over to Xander and Anya...

"Mears!..." William cried... "I don't give a damn about you or Amy...But for my wife's sake...I'm telling you to get out now!...Don't be a fool...She's not helping you!"

Giles stared now at Anne...Then William...

"Some people just don't lose well, eh, Warren...?" Anne grinned...

"Xander..." she called to him as he watched with Anya... "Take Giles and Anya out...William and Willow will be alright..."

Anya can't act against me, Xander...Not in here...she noted...

"Amy..." Giles looked at her as she stood by Mears...

"Will is right...Get out of here..."

"Gee..." Warren smirked again... "All this concern for us is touching...But we can deal with our friend and if you don't get out... Now...I'll start removing you permanently..."

"Take the orbs and our super-witch into the storeroom..." he turned to Anne...

"When Amy's ready she'll come and block Willow..."

Cool...Anne smiled...Lifting the orbs off the table gently...She paused...

"William?..." she eyed Mears...

"No brain fryin'...You got that Warren?..."

"If he stays put..." Warren shrugged... "If he starts something...Or if you get any ideas..."

"I resent that...Partner..." she glared...But motioned to Willow to follow her as she carried the orbs back...Her new minion now pulling the wiccan along...

"Folks?..." Warren waved the gun at the group now behind William on the ground... "It's been a ball catchin' up with ya...But if you're not out of here in one minute..."

And Anya...?...Remember...With the orbs gone Amy will be back up to strength as fast as the room allows...Don't let your friends make the wish that'll kill them all...he smiled...

"Hey..." he pointed towards the door... "Look who's here...Little Dawny and her pet dog..." As Clem and a blank-eyed Dawn approached the shop door...

"Get moving..." he told the group as they moved to the door... "We'll send your favorite witch out when we're done with her...You got my word on it..."

Amy watched Anne and Willow as they went to the back of the shop, Anne's latest holding Willow's arm as they entered the storeroom...

All going perfectly...And yet...

She concentrated...Best to focus on regaining her strength asap in any case...

"Amy...For the last time..." Will called to her...

Shock him...Warren turned to her...Warren?...she eyed him...

"Time we let Anne see who's boss here..." he noted... "Not too much but just enough to put him out..."

She hesitated and Mears grabbed the control, holding the button down as William writhed in agony and passed out...

"What are you going to do, Anne...?" Willow stared at her in the storeroom...The minion tying her arms carefully to a shelf post...

"What do you think, Willow?..." she grinned back... "I'm gonna try to win, of course..."

"Buffy...Cicely..." Willow looked at her firmly... "Don't let her do this...Stop her..."

Anne gave her a sidelong glance and smile as she went to the door...

"Buffy!...Don't!..." Willow cried... "Please!..."

"You're the Slayer..."

"Just watch her and keep her here...Don't hurt her...Unless she gets free and tries to leave..." Anne told the girl as she opened the door...And went out...

"Buffy!..." Willow stared at the door, struggling at the ropes on her arms...

And then at the single orb Anne had left in the room...

Outside the Box, the gang stared at each other, Dawn wanly looking from one to the other...Clem holding her arm gently...

"Giles?..." Xander looked at him...As Anya helped him to a bench outside the shop...

"Mears has a gun...This is a job for the police, Xander...Unless..." he glanced at the door...

"I could call from the payphone there..." Clem noted...Giles nodded and he led Dawn gently over...

"I could try and get in..." Anya suggested... "If one of you wished it against them..."

It's not something I'd recommend...She sighed...Side effects, consequences...They tend to be, you know...Not quite what you wished for...

"No, Anya..." Giles shook his head... "You're right...And even if we would risk it, Mears has the orbs...You couldn't overcome them and even you might be hurt if Amy or Anne caught you..."

"Giles..." Xander... "We can't just sit by and let Warren win...Let them all..."

"I don't believe they're going anywhere, Xander...It's not the chance of that fool winning this fight we have to worry about..." he replied...

"I should try Giles..."Anya looked at him... "Before it's too late..." Xander looking at her...

"We gave them a chance, Anya...They refused it...The risk is too great..." Giles shook his head... "We'll have to hope that Buffy can control her..."

"Police are on their way..." Clem came back to them, Dawn in careful tow... "Ten minutes, they say..." he stared at Giles and Anya...

"Control her?...Giles, that's the last thing on her...On all their minds...now..." Anya rose...

"An?..." Xander stared at her...

"Wish me in, Xander!...Quick!...Curse him or her and wish me to stop them...Now!..." Anya pulled desperately at him... "Hurry!...For Buffy's sake, Xander...!" He blinked at her...And Giles...Who sighed and nodded...

"Yes, we have to try...Do it, Xander..." the Watcher rose as well and stumbled to the door...And smashed a pane near the locked doorknob...No good, bolted at several points... "Clem, help me get this door open..." The demon hurried over, one eye still on the wan Dawn, sitting now...

"But...An...?"

"Xander!..."

"Ok...?...Ummn...I curse Warren Mears...I wish you'd get in there and stop him..."

She trembled...Giles, Clem, Xander staring...

"I can't...It's too late..." she looked at Giles...Who smashed now at the door with Clem...Groaning from the wounded arm, he turned to Xander now over to help...

"Get it open!..."

"Hey..." In the storeroom, Willow smiled at her guard... "Could you check this rope...? I think it's coming loose...And you know how unhappy Anne would be with you if she finds a loose rope on me..."

The woman came over, slowly checking...

"Pull on this one..." Willow suggested... "It's really the loose one..."

"So..." Anne beamed at her partners... "We win..."

Ah...she eyed the unconscious William on the floor... "You decided to go ahead and knock him out, eh...?"

"No time for takin' chances, Annie..." Warren shook his head... "If you don't like it, go join your pals outside..."

She smiled at him...A sweet, almost innocent Buffy smile...Amy feeling a sudden chill...Warren...she looked at him...

"Nah..." Anne shook her head... "I guess it's for the best, so long as there's no permanent damage..."

"You nearly ready for Willow, Amy?..." she eyed her...

No...Amy shook her head... "I'm not...I can't seem to bring up any power..."

"Giles has a few power items in his special area...Glowy, crystally stuff...Over there..." Anne pointed...They should be reviving now, maybe you can tap them...Best we got moving on this before my ole pals think of something...Anya maybe...She looked at the door...

"C'mon, guys...Time's awastin'..."

Amy headed over, a quick glance at Warren...Watch her...

"Less you just wanna kill Willow...I could vamp her..." Anne noted to Warren, coming to him...

And with a quick, sudden, almost effortless move, twisted the remote Amy'd returned to him and the pistol out of his hand...And threw them across the shop...Tossing Warren back...

"Anne!..." Amy whirled back...

"You've made a big mistake, Warren..." Anne told him quietly, looming over him as he lay on the floor...

And it's your own fault...You made me this way...Buffy gave you both fair warning...

And now...

"You gotta pay the consequences..." A vicious smile as Anne stared at him...

Amy moving back to them...

"What the...?" he looked at Anne, rising to his feet as she slipped back... "You can't hurt us, Anne...".

"I can't?... Gee..." Anne grinned... "Oh, is that the "We're partners and you can't breech our trust" thing?...Or the... "I can't sink fangs into you cause Amy's protected us..." thing...?"

She moved on him slowly, watching Amy...

"Get back, Warren...!" Amy cried, shoving him back...

"Hey partners...Why the terrified faces...?" Anne grinned...

We won, right?...Just like we planned...

"Ok..." she waved a hand... "Just like my dear soul sisters allowed us to win..."

"But it seems there's a little job they still need me to do for the collective Buffy..."

Them not wantin' to dirty their hands with a couple of sorry humans like you two and all...

"Sorry..." she smiled coldly... "Kiddin'...I would never think of breakin' up such a great partnership...Not completely, anyway..."

Though maybe the balance of power needs a little shiftin'...she eyed Giles' collection on the wall...

Hmmn...Neat samurai sword, she noted...Shoving Amy back, away from her and the shop door...

Warren sliding for the shop door...

"Giles always keeps his stuff in such great condition..." Anne smiled at them...

"You going, Mearsy?..." she grinned...Ok...She waved at the door...

"It's our Amy I need to go over things with anyway..."

"Buffy!..." Willow pounded from behind the storeroom door...

No good, Wil...Anne called back...Laughing harshly...

"I'm back running the show...And don't bother fumbling with the spell casting, Amy...This room is protected against you as well as my bestus pal out there...Surprise..."

She grinned at an increasingly terrified Amy...Pulling a blue, glowing orb from her pocket...

"I kept one for you, Amy..." Anne grinned maliciously at the witch...

But...I think harsher measures are called for here...She pulled the long sword out of its scabbard...

"Buffy...Don't do this...You don't want to let her do this...This isn't you..." Amy pleaded, trying to back away...Toward the locked storeroom...

Wasn't me...Anne grinned coldly at the witch...

But...Thanks to you...And your boy there...My little helpmates...Even Buffy was willing to help out in this little playlet...On some level...

"You know, I really think she's starting to enjoy expressing her inner demon..."

No...Buffy...Amy found the wall behind her...A hastily thrown, feeble shock wave hurled at Anne was absorbed by the orb...

"I can still help you, Buffy...Please..."

An...ne...Anne smiled... "Wasn't that what you wanted when you and lover boy killed me?...To have me out here and get rid of pathetic ole Buf's miserable lil' moral sense...?"

Well, as my vengeance demony friend Anya would say...Wish...Granted...she smiled...Grabbing Amy by the throat...

"But...Someone should've told you, sweetie...Be careful what you wish for..." she lifted Amy delicately off the ground...

"And as for helping me?...Amy?...Lose the new me before we've even begun to enjoy the pleasures our demon has to show us three?..."

"Besides, Amy sweet troubled thing that you are...You killed me...Hardly much of a stretch, starting my new human-killing career with you..." she noted, lowering the choking girl, but still holding her firmly...

"This is the Buffy you guys wanted, right?...A soulless, heartless killer?..."

No...Buffy...No, please!...Please!...

"Warren!..." Amy screamed...Struggling helplessly...

A crash from the front door...Giles, Clem, and Xander smashing at it...

He stared at her...Eyeing Anne...Who grinned over at him...

"You still here, Mearsy?...Gee, Amy, look...Our miserable little nerd is still hangin'..."

That's love...she smiled gently at him...

"Great..."

"Wait..." he called over to Anne... "Don't hurt her...We need her...You need her!..."

"Anne!...Amy, get out!..." he screamed...Grabbing now feebly at the demon-faced Anne, who brushed him aside with an almost gentle move...That tossed him again the side wall...

Just liking killing...A rat...Anne grinned...Lifting Amy off the floor again as the girl squirmed...Struggling not so much to free herself...As to look over to Warren...With a grateful look...A smile...

He stayed...He tried...He actually...Tried...

"Wait...Anne!..." Warren called again...As she raised her sword...He ran...

"Wait!...Please...!...Amy!..." Anne kicking him off easily to the side...

"Only much more satisfying..." She swung the blade with a violent lunge...Severing Amy's head with one blow...

"There, there...See...Amy..." Anne eyed the pathetic bloody heap on the floor...

Much more satisfying...

Well...Anne grinned...

"That's that..."

She eyed Warren...Trembling as he stood in shock...

"Only one Queen of the Pride, Mearsy..."

Don't fret...I think you'll do for me, partner...And you can stay ridiculously human for now...More useful to me that way, I'd say even if I could get past poor Am's protection...

You'd make a pathetic vamp after all...she grinned...And we want you alive to remember your Amy...For a good, long time...

Warren stared at her...Blankly...

"Mears, you child...I was ready to kill everyone Buffy loved if it would give me William and you, you silly little...Murder us...Threaten my husband, our child, and you thought what?...That you could release me and dear ole Buffy would hold me in check if I got rambunctious?...Who the hell did you think you were dealing with?..." she shook her head at him...

"Best if you left before Willow or the others break in here, I'd say..." she went to ... "I'll be in touch..." she smiled coldly...And ran up to Giles' special magics area ...A quick glance at William as she broke the locked gate open and leaping to an upper window, smashing the pane, left...

Amy...? Warren looked at the huddle on the floor...

Amy...he stared...Trembling...

Moving quietly over...

He took her hand and stoked it...

The only person...He suddenly realized...Besides his Mom...Or poor ole Andy...On Earth or in Eternity...

Amy...Amy...

He looked dazedly around the room...

"I..."

I'm...Sorry...

He sobbed...

"I'm sorry Amy...I'm sorry...I'm sorry Kat...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

He was still crying when Willow came in on him...

She stared at him...And Amy's remains on the floor...

"Warren...?"

He looked at her, not recognizing for a moment...

Anne...he gasped out...She...

Then realized just who he was talking to...

Don't...he begged...Rising...

"It was an accident...I swear..."

Actually...Warren...Willow smiled at him coldly...

"I'm very pleased to see you're still with us..."

Your life is precious to me...Bastard schmuck...

"See...You being alive is one small chance that I may be forgiven...Might even get to see my Tara again one day..."

So, you are not gonna die...Today...At my hands, anyway...

"But you are going to prison...And while I doubt it will do any good, I suggest you consider trying to repent and make amends as you are lookin' at one long stretch in Hell later on..."

She paused...And calmed a bit, staring at him...And saw Amy's scarf in his hand...And the tears on his face...

"I'm sorry about Amy..." she said, sadly...almost kindly...

After letting the others in and leaving Warren in Xander's and Giles' hands, Willow headed out with the revived William...Little doubt between them as to where Anne had gone...The place she had as much right to call home as either of her internal "sisters"...

They found her waiting in the living room at the Summers'...Defiance, even a kind of brutal triumph on her face...But something else, Willow noted as she stared at her, William beside her...

Joy...As she eyed William...A man again, fighting to save his love and family...Whatever agonies of remorse and other sufferings might lay ahead for him, there was no deathwish in this human-souled vampire...

Of course, Willow suddenly realized...That damned soul of his...That was it...The thing in real danger...The reason he had to be helped, now...He was safe before, trapped in Spike all those years until she could come back and help him...But when William came out at last...In despair...He could've been lost forever...

And she...Anne...Told them...The others...Made them see the danger...And convinced them that she was the one to deal with it...

"Dawn...?" she looked at them...

With Giles and Anya...William nodded... "And as you promised, she's fine...Sleeping till you let her go..."

"Once you've gotten rid of me, huh?..." she gave a bitter smile...But the joy peeping out even on the mildly demonic face...

"So..." Anne eyed them... "The big fight scene, eh...?"

"You up for another round, Willow...?" she grinned... " 'Cause I'm rarin' and ready..."

Willow watched her quietly...William shaking his head...

"There's not gonna be a fight, pet...You're releasing Dawn/Amelia and going back, Anne...Giving it up...Control, I mean...Just as Spike did..." William stared at her...

She laughed a little, sneering at him...

"What?...Go back without a fight?...Like some wuss of a Spike...?...Hell, I could win this one...You and Rosenberg won't take the chance of hurtin' your sweet Buffy..."

"I wouldn't count on that..." he looked back at Willow...

"But it doesn't matter...You didn't come here to fight...Though as you've told us, you wouldn't pass up a real chance at the mass murder/world dominion thing...You knew from the start how this would end..."

My sensible Anne...he smiled at her...Who kept Buffy...And Cicely before her...Firmly grounded in the world...And alive...Through three lifetimes, counting Willow's little revival...

"I understand...At last...What the three of you have been trying to do...Ever since you all realized what a lousy idea it was Cicely came up with back in 1880..." he gave her a wry grin...

"Wasn't my idea..." she frowned, waving a hand... "I was for killing the whole Council, then retiring...I never trusted 'em for a minute..."

A slight grin crossing Willow's face...That's our Annie...

Pity Cicely didn't take her advice in 1880...

And yet...The image of Amy on the floor rose up...

So much love...And such rage...But can I blame her...Buffy...For letting Anne...?...Me, of all people?...

Anne...William shook his head..."You're no fool to go destroying yourself in some nonsensical battle over nothing important...Like some damned Angelus..."

"And what I would get?...For a favor like that...?...Your Undead, undying gratitude...?" she glared...

No...he paused...You get...What you wanted...What you really came here for...

I accept that you are a part of Buffy, Anne...And that if I love her...I love you, too...And more...

"I will never forget that part of Buffy-Cicely that let me be a man...A husband...A father...With a life and future...Again..."

She stared him in the face...He nodded...

Willow, seeing the new flash of joy that crossed her face, smiled in spite of herself...She did it at last...Mission accomplished...Saved, one husband with immortal soul intact after one hundred years of trying to get those cautious idiot Slayer counterparts to first not kill him and then to help him...She's saved him at last...Just as Spike saved Buffy's soul when she might have been lost but for him and his crazy love...

William continued...

"The part...That did what the others couldn't...Kept just enough of that ole love-light burning when the Slayer in you three would have destroyed Spike and me...And the part that kept Buffy alive until I found my way back..."

"Took a hundred years...But you found me and saved me...My Anne...The reckless, loving heart of my Cicely and Buffy...Promise me..." he smiled suddenly... "Both of you..." he glanced at Willow...

She and Willow both looked at him...

"You both promise you won't tell anyone that I'm Cathy and you're Heathcliff in this relationship?...My bad boy antihero's rep's shot to hell enough as it is... " he grinned at Anne...Who raised her head and gave him a proud nod...And a grin...

She stared at him a long while...Willow watching...Murderess...And mad lover...

Like me...

"Well..." she sneered again at last...

"You may as well get what's coming to you...You deserve to be stuck with us...With her...For all Eternity..."

And Willow there is ready to kick me loose in any case...she glared at her...

He nodded...But smiled at her...She finally smiling back...

"I mean it, Anne...I love you too...And you will be with us...Part of us..." he told her...

Willow watching in wonder...

"And I know...You'll always be there for me...In her...Just as Spike will be in me for Buffy..." William nodded...

Nobody loves like a demon from Hell...And I oughta know...he grinned...

"I love you more than the others put together...And even before Cicely knew, I knew..." Anne glared fiercely at him...Then at Willow...

"You don't need her..." she turned back to him... "Just..." she stared at him...Pleading...

He put a hand out to her...

"May I have this dance?...Anne?..." he asked gently...

She nodded slightly, and led him to the center of the room...

"In the tape box... "Begin the Beguine"..." she looked carefully at Willow...William looking at her as well...Willow nodded and finding the tape, started it...

Play

He held her gently, she hugging tight as they moved around the floor, Willow watching...

The music came to its end and she raised her head to look at him...Tears gently spilling even as she smiled at him...

"See what I'll do for you!...William!... My heart!...My soul!...My love!..." she whispered...

"You never needed a chip or a soul to love, girl...I will never forget..." he whispered back...

She rolled her eyes back and collapsed...Holding him to the last...

Buffy awoke ten minutes later...Willow quickly confirming that it was indeed Buffy's soul...Anne gone...Really gone, this time...And blocked off from return...Voluntarily...she shook her head in wonder...

"Not gone..." Buffy sighed...

Just back home where she belongs...she eyed William, sitting beside her...My extension in Hell...But me just the same...

She avoided Willow's stare...

"I let her back...Knowing she'd kill Amy..." she looked at William... "And when Dawn cried out for me to help her...I...We...Hesitated..."

Maybe we couldn't have stopped her...But...We could have fought harder...We...

"You saved the world a lot, Mrs. Walthrop..." Willow broke in... "It was time you had a chance to save your husband and child..."

"I nearly killed my child..." Buffy shook her head... "And...Amy...I..."

"Cicely..." Will looked at her... "When I came back...When you knew I had a soul again...You said I wasn't guilty of what Spike did..."

But, as Anne pointed out...There were times when I helped Spike to survive...Regardless of the consequences...Because I had to survive and find you again...

"You didn't know, Will..." she replied, hastily... "You...Didn't let..."

"Love..." he sighed... "We were dealt a terrible fate...And no kind God appeared to wave us out of it...We did...What we did...And somehow, we managed to survive it all and find each other...If God has complaints, so do we...So lets do what we can to make amends and lead the lives we should never have had taken from us...And then, together, we'll pay our call on the Almighty and if he's willing to make his apologies...We'll see about making ours..."

"I was the Slayer..." she shook her head... "And I..."

Yeah...Will nodded, taking her chin in his hand as he spoke...You found that the Slayer...Is no different from anyone else...

Maybe a bit more persistent...he grinned...Wilder in the darker depths of her heart...But as willing to risk it all as the most foolish of us...

"And at least now I'm prepared for when the PMS kicks in..." he smiled at her...

Deathwishes...Part XLVII...Conclusion...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

PG-13/Borderline R

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: S7 tale...William's back, seeking help from his favorite Slayer-girl...Who may shortly need a little help herself...

Another Cicelyverse tale...

Written partly pre-Lessons, so no major spoilers that I know of but you may want to see episode 7.1 and on first to be sure...

Part XLVII...Conclusion...

"You can't cure her...Even now...?" William looked at Willow...A deeply depressed Buffy beside him on the central slab of his new crypt...She having agreed it was the best place to stay under the circumstances...

"I didn't say that..." Willow noted...

I said it would take time...And like Spike, Anne is safely out of the picture...

"That seems to be the best we can do for now..." she continued...

As to the physical body...

"I'll be this way...Forever?..." Buffy looked up at her friend...

No...Willow shook her head...We'll find a way...

"Though I wanta hold on the killing you and trying to resurrect you yet again thing...For now at least..." she grinned faintly...

"Anne's one tough lady and I think we should expect she'd try a comeback if we gave her any opportunity..."

Buffy nodded...But suddenly smiled...

"Maybe...It's for the best...I can stay with Will now...I couldn't bear to think of him alone as I aged and died...And left him again..."

"You will never leave me...Not as long as my brain holds out...Besides, I wouldn't stay here a moment longer than I had to help the Nibs and our friends..." William insisted...

Speaking of Amelia...he eyed Willow...

"I'll look her over when I get back to the shop...But I'm sure Giles is right and the thrall hold is broken..."

Anne's a lady of her word...she beamed at Buffy...Who sighed a bit...

"Wil...? Do you think she'll ever...?"

Willow sighed...Well...Buf...

"Forgive?...Sure...Forget?...Fraid not..."

Nor will Xander and Anya...But that was the price you and Anne knew you'd have to pay here...she looked carefully at her friend...

"She's probably best off learning to be more skittish round vamps in any case...She's been much too close to a few of them in the past few years..." she patted the sad-faced Buffy...

"They don't hate you, Buf...But...You're in Willowland now, I'm afraid..." she grinned... "It does get better...And I think...I hope...Amends can be made...Especially with the mitigating circumstances..." she smiled at William...

"Well...You can't stay here all night, Wil..." Buffy smiled back at Willow...

Go home, call your poor Mom...Heck, go back to NYC for the rest of your vacation...

"I'm fine now...My husband will take care of me...And we have some catching up to do...Before Dawn's better and demands we come home..."

Willow stared at her...

"It will be fine, Red..." William nodded...

"Ok...I'll be back tomorrow...I promise..." Willow smiled at them...

"For now...Happy honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Walthrop..."

Well...Buffy eyed him...

"Honeymoon cottage and all..." she waved to take in the crypt...

And sat back down...

He put an arm round her...

"I'm sorry...Doesn't cut it, I know, girl..."

She shook her head...Rising...

"I meant what I said Will...I'm glad you won't be alone..."

Even if it means I miss out on Dawn's daylight graduation a few years from now...

After all, you would've...And she's your daughter too...

He nodded...But...

"I meant what I said too, Buffy...Cicely..."

Dawn's practically a Slayer now...Our Slayer girl...And she and the others don't need us to save them...If they ever really did...

"We can go...If you want, darling..." he looked carefully at her...

I know...Believe me...How hard it is for you now...

"We...can...go...If you want to..."

Together...

"God knows, Immortality has long since lost any charms it might have had for me..."

"You'd...For me...?" she stared at him...Looking down...

Will, I never helped you...

"At least not after hiring Halfreck's "help"..."

"Cicely...You came back for me from the grave...Three times..." he smiled at her... "To save my soul..."

"I'd say that qualifies as help...Big time, girl..."

But...he came to her and took her chin gently in his hands...

"What do you want, now?...My love..."

"I'm afraid, Will...I know I should stay...We should stay and help..."

But I'm afraid...That Anne might come back...Or that I might one day...she hesitated...

"I've already killed once...Me, as much as Anne...Who's to say I won't give in...in the end..."

"You will never give in, Buffy...Besides..." he grinned...

"Anne herself won't let you now...She's too much riding on your united self to let you fail and be lost to me...Cicely too...Just as Spike is doing his damnedest to buck me up..."

"But if you want to go...My sweet darling...You don't have to stay..."

"And I want to go with you..." he said...

She stared, tears beginning to run...

"I told Dawn once..."No guy was worth...Dying for..."..." she looked at him...

Course...I meant no guy you'd watched for ten minutes at football practice...Not the loving husband of a century plus...Still...

"Am I?...Worth..." she stared...

Yes...he took her hand...

"Cicely...Buffy...I have died for you in my dreams a thousand times...One more won't make a difference..."

She nodded...And shook her head sadly...

"Will...?...Will you believe that...In part...I am dying to be with you?..."

I did...I do...he nodded...

"I wish we could wait...For the sun..." she smiled wanly at him... "Remember...Even back in London, back then...We never got to see the sunrise together..."

But...If we wait and the others come...she looked at him...He nodded...

They stood by the crypt...Holding hands in the moonlight...

She handed him a stake and pulled out Mr. Pointy...

"God...Have mercy on the souls of my poor husband and..." she began...

"Buffy!..." Giles cried...Racing for them across the grounds...His bandaged arm dangling...

"Don't!..."

"William!...Stop her!..." the Watcher shouted, still coming on...

"No, Giles...!..." she called to him...

Leave us alone!...she paused...

Unless...Her practical nature, both Buffy's and Cicely's sharpened by long years of experience, couldn't help kicking in...

"Have you got something...?" she called...

Not yet...he stopped, panting...Staring at her...

Willow and the others...he gasped...We...Are still trying...

But...You mustn't do...This...he panted...

"Buffy...You...And William, now...Have a responsibility to..."

Humanity?...Buffy looked at him...

"We're not human, Giles...Not anymore..."

I...We...Won't exist this way...Eternally...Not even to save the world...

"I won't take the chance of Anne coming back someday..."

And it's time Will and I found our peace in Heaven...

"William..." Giles eyed him...

"You stayed on with Spike for love of Cicely for a century..."

"And found her at last, Rupert...No, I don't want to stay here...Not if Spike may return one day...And separate us again..." he shook his head...

Go away, Giles...Buffy told him...

"It's over...And time for the Walthrops to go...Home..."

There'll be another Slayer...

"Buffy...You're afraid of Anne...But I tell you, girl...You are Anne...Anne lurks in you as human Buffy just as she does in your present form...She is part of you, as all our demons are...You can't escape her..."

Yes...I can...Buffy insisted...

"In Heaven, there'll be no place for..."

"Heaven doesn't look kindly on suicides, Miss Summers...er Mrs. Walthrop..." Giles frowned...

To win Heaven...You must defeat your demon...Not run from her...

"You must know that, William...Even if she doesn't..." the Watcher paused...

"Your lives...Or existences...Are in God's hands...Or the Fates...What you will...And you cannot throw them away without serious consequences..."

God...Buffy spit out the name...

"Look what God has done to my William...To me...?"

You think we care what that bastard wants...she glared...

"Yes..." Giles nodded...

"I've often wanted to make "that bastard" suffer as I...As those I loved and love suffer...myself..."

"But whether or not there is a purpose behind the suffering...And I can't say if there is...You two are risking everything you have just won back...At such terrible cost..."

"Oh...Buffy...If you've ever believed me...Believe me when I say I am not doing this merely for Humanity...Or out of Duty...I believe you and Will are risking separation again...If you act rashly..."

She looked at William...?

Will...he turned to William...

"You're a practical man...With great knowledge of the Dark Forces in this universe...Will you risk your Cicely?...Your Buffy?...For a leap into the Unknown?...Knowing how the Powers That Be delight in their games and their rules..."

"We will find a way to free you both...But if your demons seize you again...We'll stop you...Or you'll stop each other...But to throw your chance at being together away now...Oh...Please...Don't let yourselves be led down a wrong path...Not now..."

"It's not the way of living things to wish for death...That is the Darkness calling to us...Luring us..."

Cicely...It wasn't dying for William that told him you loved him...It was living for him...

"Life, not Death...Is your Gift, Buffy..." he called...

Live, my dears...However you can...And love each other...While you can...

"And Miss Addams...Suicide remains a mortal sin in the Anglican Church..."

Mrs. Walthrop...she replied without thinking...

"Might be nice to see Dawny grow up...Have kids..." she eyed Will...

Yeah...he nodded...

"Our little girl...She probably would appreciate having Mum and Dad at her wedding..." he smiled...

Even if it has to be held at night...

Buffy sighed...Well, maybe...She suddenly looked at her Watcher, still panting a bit...

"Giles...How did you...?"

He waved his good arm...

"You're my Slayer, girl...It's my job to know you inside and out...Besides, to be honest, we'd all decided it was best to have some one with you two these first nights..." he smiled...

After the past couple of weeks...Hell, the last couple of years...Guessing you might be a hair depressed was rather a no-brainer...

Several days later...

The gang filed into the crypt...Giles, Anya, Xander, Clem facing Buffy and William standing by a sad-faced, weary...But clearly loving...Dawn...All turning to look at Willow standing at the central slab...

"Thanks for coming guys..." she eyed each one... "I know some of you weren't quite ready for this...But I appreciate your coming for my sake..."

I'd been trying to be good old Willow again...Willow smiled sadly...

Had this image in my mind...A ridiculous one...One Giles tried but didn't completely rid me of...

Of gentle, compassionate...saintly, she grinned wanly...Willow...

The wonderful girl I used to be...

"But I was never that...I was nice enough, cared some...Tried to be a good friend..."

But my compassion never cut it...

At the first real blow, I caved to the darkness...And that's not all...she hastily added, stopping Buffy from protesting...

"What happened with Amy showed me...I never really cared...About anyone outside our little circle..."

The friends I needed to make my life worthwhile...

And even with you guys...

"For years I knew Xander was being abused at home..." Anya gently taking his hand which tensed slightly...

"I knew his father beat him when he was blasted...Not enough to get the cops involved, but I saw the bruises...And even worse the emotional stuff..."

How he ended up a loving man, I'll never know...But it wasn't because his friends helped him...

"I never lifted a finger to stop it...The girl who "loved" him for years..."

"None of us..." Buffy began, tearing...

"You reincarnated after a century to save poor lost Will, Cicely...But I'm not saying I was worse than anyone else..."

I just never was the person I've been telling myself I used to be...And it would not be an improvement for me to go back to being her...

"Giles tried to make me see that...That whatever I lost when I thought I'd killed pathetic old Mearsy there and released my dark side...I'd gained something when I came back...A kind of link, understanding, sympathy, call it what ever you want...For those poor things lost in the dark...Because, I know now that I am one of them..."

Just as you learned it Buf...Willow gently patted her...

"We all are, really...You and I were just lucky enough to have people who care..."

Poor Amy...she sobbed...And went over to stand by the casket...

"This is to say good-bye...To someone I let down...Badly..." she began...

"Forgive me, Amy..."

"Fifteen minutes..." the guard informed the tall, dark-haired young man beside him as he took a seat at a desk in front of a plastic-shield barrier...

Behind the barrier, seated...Warren Mears in orange prison jump suit...

Xander eyed Mears carefully...His usual attempt at smirking bravado a bit muted...He actually seemed pleased to see him...

Progress, Xander thought to himself...After the two previous trips...

"Welcome, Harris..." Warren nodded... "Back on your little mercy errand?...How's Summers and co...?...She still human-souled?..."

"Yeah...And we hope to restore both of them as human in time..." Xander eyed him... "No thanks to you..."

And I would keep clear of her...And even more clear of her husband...If they ever do let you out of here...

"Hey..." Mears waved a hand grandiosely... "I'm sitting pretty right here..." he leaned forward...

Tell the Slayer...Her pet witch...And my best bot customer...Ole Mears is doing just fine...

And...Quite content with the stalemate the game produced...he settled back, giving an attempt at a relaxed air...

"Stalemate, Warren?..." Xander grinned... "Mears, if Buffy or Willow wanted to...They could kill you in a second...And not all the fences or the wire or the guards and their guns could keep them from Slaying you...If they wanted that..."

"So?...They like sending their whipped pup to look me over from time to time?...Well, tell them..."

I'm not here for them, Warren...Xander sighed, cutting him off...

"I thought I'd made that clear the first time I came..."

"I'll Slay...When Buffy needs me...And I have to...But I want more than that..."

"From now on...I want to help the ones we fight...Try to, anyway...Whenever there's any chance...Even the slightest..." he smiled wanly at the figure behind the barrier...Mears still desperately trying to hold his pose as defeated but defiant...A little of his fear unavoidably seeping through...

"And God knows, Mears...You're the one person, demon or human within range, who's most in need of help..."

"So..." Warren eyed him... "You're here to save little ole Warren..."

"No..." Xander shook his head... "Not for you, you schmuck...For Amy...And for me..."

He sat down, eyeing a Mears who'd gone silent at the mention of that name...

"And you're gonna listen, Mears, and you're gonna try...Because you loved Amy, the one person in this existence who cared for you...And this is your one and last chance to save her and yourself..."

Mears blinked at him...Looked away...

"She needs you to save her soul, Warren...No one else can..."

Mears stared back, grinning...

"So...You got copies of "the Watchtower" with you, brother Harris?..."

"You know what I'm talking about, Warren...Her soul is trapped in Limbo...By her own guilt..."

No...Warren shook his head, his pose breaking...Not Amy...She...

"She committed an evil act, Mears...She helped you turn Buffy...And she's suffering for it...Punishing herself, I'm sure...Forever, if you don't help her..."

Suffering in ways even you'll never have to endure...Because, she was a good person...A loving one...Who let herself go down a terrible path...

"Amy wasn't...You don't know what you're talking about, Harris...You don't know what Amy went through...Hell..." he glared...

"Her parents abused and betrayed her...You and your little band of noble bastards abandoned her...When she needed you..."

"Yeah..." Xander nodded... "We did..."

Anyway...he nervously shrugged...What the hell can I do for her, in here...?...Pray for her?...

"Yeah...That's exactly what you can do for her, Mears...If you're ever worthy of being heard..."

Mears looked him in the eyes...Something working in his face...

Amy...he paused...

"Amy tried to stop me once...Told me I could still save myself...If I was sincere..."

That's what they say...Xander nodded...

And you believe that crap, too?...Mears grinned at him...

"It's all Amy...And you...Got...Mears..." Xander eyed him coolly...

Eh...Warren waved a hand...

"Time's up..." the guard returned...

Well...Mears stood...

"See ya next week, brother Harris...If I'm still hanging round here..."

Next week, Mears...Xander nodded...


End file.
